Digital Bob Archive

The first of five major fires that have occurred over the years at Second and Seward Streets was on February 6, 1897, when the Juneau Opera House was badly damaged.

The original portion of this multi purpose frame building was erected in 1887 on the National Bank of Alaska corner, and in 1895 it was considerably enlarged and became the largest building in town. It then contained a theater, complete with balconies and private boxes; a saloon on the ground floor with entrance from Seward Street; rooms where fraternal organizations and the Juneau Fire Association held regular meetings, and on the top floor \"ten light and airy living rooms.\"

Stage plays, vaudeville shows, boxing and wrestling matches, dances, school entertainment, and a least one term of the U.S. District Court were among the events that took place in the Opera House Theater.

James Winn, one of the original owners of the building, had remained an owner, with a succession of different partners. The first theater manager, George T.
Snow, had gone off to the Stewart River in Canada to mine for gold in 1888 but had returned to the theater the following year. Then in 1894 he moved to Forty Mile with his family, Including Crystal and Monte who were said to have been the first white children to cross Chilkoot Pass.

The fire in 1897 was first discovered at about 9:15 in the morning, in the stage and dressing room area, and the interior of the theater was soon a mass of flames. Members of the Juneau Fire Association concentrated on saving the walls to keep the fire from spreading to the Alaska Furniture Company to the south and jumping across Seward Street to the Koehler & James store and across Second Street to the Juneau Hotel and the Windsor Building on the corner. The latter is the only one of those early buildings that remains, and it was partly burned in a later fire.

By the time the flames were finally extinguished, the roof had caved in and the bar room had partly burned and was flooded with water. The four walls were still standing, however, and were found to be in pretty fair condition; it was decided to make temporary repairs, including a flat roof, and to replace the entire building the following summer. Meanwhile, the bar fixtures were found to have suffered little damage and were moved across the street to the Windsor Building.
The saloon was open for business again that same evening. The upstairs of the Windsor, which had been designed as a dance hall, was quickly fitted with a stage and performances began there two days later.

A large crew of carpenters went to work in the burned-out building. On the lower floor the space devoted to the saloon was reduced and room made for an oyster bar. The work went so rapidly that the theater was able to reopen with \"a grand vaudeville performance\" on February 27, just 18 days after the fire.

The new building never did materialize and the original walls stood until demolished after another fire in 1959.