Rebuilt
by the owners and volunteer townsfolk, the first troupe to play the theater
was General Tom Thumb of P.T. Barnum fame. Though the years there have
been many owners of this historic building. Between 1872 and 1893, a partnership
of Henry Krohe and George Schneider owned the building.
Although
we can find a biographical account of Henry Krohe, George Schneider is
lost to history. In 1893, with the remodeling of the Opera House, came
a new set of owners. T.K. Condit, J.P. Harris, Merton Harris, William Deppe
and August Deppe operated the Opera House from 1893 to 1899.
Most
recently, it has been owned by the Irene Schroll family. As of March of
2004, it has been purchased by the Heritage Preservation Foundation, a
501 (C) 3 non-profit organization. We would like to thank Irene Schroll
for the opportunity to purchase the property for the purpose of restoration
and use of this historic property. The Beardstown Grand Opera House is
a National Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places by the Federal Government.Beardstown's History
Beardstown was laid out and plotted on September 9,1829, and was incorporated the same year. The townspeople named it after its founder, Thomas Beard.
With the arrival of the first steamboat, the Phoenix, in 1827, an important
commercial artery to the mid-west was opened. By 1834 Beardstown was transacting
more business than any other town in the state. When
the river was at the height of its importance, Beardstown had the most
extensive pork trade of any western town, successfully competing with Cincinnati.
By 1864 Beardstown boasted such manufacturing concerns as brick yards,
provision houses, door and sash factories, cabinet and coffin factory,
plow factories, carriage and wagon factories, steam saw mill and flour
mills and cigar factories.
In May 1837 Beardstown was the largest town in the county and hence
it became the county seat. 
In
May 1839 the town of Virginia fought for this honor and the county seat
was removed to Virginia. However, in September 1843 it was once again relocated
to Beardstown where it remained until 1875 when it was permanently moved
to Virginia.
Historically, Beardstown was the site of a dramatic legal incident which
involved Abraham Lincoln as defense attorney in a trial which became known
as the "Trial of the Almanac." 
Duff Armstrong, the sone of Lincolns' friends Jack and Hannah Armstrong
of New Salem, was charged with the murder of a man named Metzker. The trial
was conducted in the Beardstown Courthouse in 1858. Lincoln, through the
use of information found in an Almanac, proved that Armstrong could not
have committed the crime which he was accused and Duff was acquitted. Abraham
Lincoln was also made a Captain in the militia, at the local Schmolt park,
in the Blackhawk Indian War about April of 1833.