{"id":470,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:07","latitude":48.197867000000002235537976957857608795166015625,"longitude":-114.3139744000000064261257648468017578125,"title":"McIntosh Opera House","subtitle":"Kalispell Main Steet Historic District (Addendum and Boundary Increase)","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/4d489f2e3e40b6d7d2b7bb46d51ab3d4.jpg","address":"48 South Main Street, Kalispell, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"The opening of this grand opera house, built by John McIntosh in 1896, confirmed Kalispell’s growing regional importance. Traveling theatrical groups brought elaborate scenery that transformed the second-floor theater. When one early performance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin drew a record crowd of 1,132, patrons stood on benches, in the gallery, and in the window sills. McIntosh’s hardware and Harvey Cannon’s gentlemen’s clothing stores were the original ground-floor businesses. Over the years McIntosh sold everything from tinware, stoves, pianos, and musical supplies to Studebaker buggies, cars, and tractors. The upstairs Opera House long served the community as meeting hall, school auditorium, gymnasium, and ballroom. For a time between 1905 and 1906, its hardwood floor became a splendid roller skating rink. A catastrophic fire in 1935 ended the building’s long service as a theater, but the sturdy survivor with its fine decorative brickwork remains one of Main Street’s largest and most prominenet fixtures.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Private","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/5b672beb-faa8-402a-a856-24702d8e4340\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about the Kalispell Main Steet Historic District (Addendum and Boundary Increase)</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/14de396f-ce0b-4e34-9df6-fc39d3223ee2/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Kalispell Main Steet Historic District (Addendum and Boundary Increase)</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/4d489f2e3e40b6d7d2b7bb46d51ab3d4.jpg":{"id":467,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"McIntosh Opera House","description":"b&amp;w Oversize Photo. captioned &#039;McIntosh Opera House, 1906&#039;. | Image available on the <a href=\"https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/64702\">Montana History Portal</a>, contributing institution Museum at Central School | 1906 | Unidentified photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/4d489f2e3e40b6d7d2b7bb46d51ab3d4.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/9e4dd90abb0e402cae377681f04b16c1.jpg":{"id":497,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"McIntosh Opera House, corner view.","description":"Opera Block, Kalispell, Mont. McIntosh Hardware Co. signs painted on side of building and the Farmers Protective Association occupies the lower level. No postmark; unused postcard. PAc 2013-50 Kalispell - Buildings, General - Opera Block | Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, Montana | no date | Publisher unknown","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/9e4dd90abb0e402cae377681f04b16c1.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/1e6e656f366d8116c9ad2f93155617b7.jpg":{"id":466,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"1st looking west from the roof of the West Hotel","description":"Looking west down 1st St. Taken from the roof of the West Hotel 47 1st Ave. E. McIntosh Hardware/Opera House may be viewed mid-distance. | <a href=\"https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/64687\">Montana History Portal</a> | ca. 1900 | Unidentified photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/1e6e656f366d8116c9ad2f93155617b7.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/3d648d021ab21dd0c0eb7a4ca83e6f7b.jpg":{"id":484,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"McIntosh Opera House, street view","description":"photo adhered to information sheet with Ref. # obscured (verso unavailable) b&amp;w print | Official records of the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena, Montana | ca. 1990s | Unidentified photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/3d648d021ab21dd0c0eb7a4ca83e6f7b.jpg"}}}