CHAPTER XXI.
GROVE TOWNSHIP.

TWO IMPOSING BUILDINGS.

The most imposing buildings which were erected during this period of unusual development was Bacon's Opera House and the Whitney block. The house of amusement was erected in 1880 by H. E. Bacon, who had been county recorder and clerk of the courts, and had established the first loan business in Cass county. He was a popular, able and executive citizen, and a good man to be at the head of such an enterprise. The building was of brick, quite imposing architecturally, and forty-seven by one hundred feet. The opera house had a seating capacity of 600, with a stage thirty-two by forty-four feet; was well equipped with scenery and curtains, supplied with folding opera chairs, and nicely lighted and ventilated. It was thrown open to the public on the 20th of September, 1880, and was dedicated by John Dillon in "Electric Light."

The Whitney Block, a massive three-story, building of brick, was completed in 1882, at a cost of $35,000. It stood sixty-five feet above the sidewalk, with an imposing Queen Anne front, and ran back one hundred feet, with a width of fifty feet. The first story was occupied for business purposes; the second was devoted to offices and lodge rooms (among which were accomodations for the Knights of Pythias); and the third story was given over to a fine Masonic Hall, the street entrance bearing a heavy stone frieze thus engraved. The Masonic feature of the building was further emphasized by a handsome and massive iron gate which enclosed the upper story.

"Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pg. 233-234.
Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, July, 2018.