Crosby Opera House
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| Location | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 41°53′01″N 87°37′43″W / 41.8835°N 87.6286°WCoordinates: 41°53′01″N 87°37′43″W / 41.8835°N 87.6286°W |
| Owner | Uranus H. Crosby |
| Type | Opera house |
| Construction | |
| Opened | April 20, 1865 |
| Closed | October 9, 1871 |
| Construction cost | $600,000 |
Crosby's Opera House (1865–1871) was an opera house in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was founded by Uranus H. Crosby in 1865 in an effort to bring a great opera hall to the city. The building was designed by William W. Boyington; the great expense of its construction ruined Crosby. After holding only occasional performances, an association formed to relieve the house of its great debt. A lottery was held that distributed over 210,000 tickets, awarding purchasers great works of art and even the building itself. After it was sold back to Crosby by the lottery winner, the hall saw more consistent performances. The hall hosted the 1868 Republican National Convention. It was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and never rebuilt.
Uranus Harold Crosby came to Chicago from Chatham, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1850. He did so on recommendation of his cousin Albert, who insisted that the city was well-cultured. Albert had arrived two years earlier to establish a liquor and tea trading house, Albert Crosby & Co. In 1851, the cousins established a liquor manufactory and the operation became the largest wholesale distributor of distilled alcohol and camphine.
Despite his new-found wealth, Uranus Crosby was disappointed at the lack of culture that he was promised in Chicago. The growing city could offer little more than brothels, saloons, and gambling houses for entertainment. The one theater, built by John Blake Rice in 1847, was destroyed in a fire shortly before Crosby's arrival. When Rice rebuilt the theater in 1851, Crosby was disappointed that he showed little interest in exhibiting opera performances. James Hubert McVicker, a close friend of Crosby's who was a neighbor in the Briggs House hotel, built a playhouse. Crosby probably assisted McVicker with raising credit for the institution.
By 1855, Rice had retired from the theater business, leaving his theater a house of novelty shows. McVicker's Theater became the cultural center of Chicago entertainment, but Crosby believed that the city was overdue for a grand opera house like the ones he knew back East. He selected a site on the north side of Washington Street between State Street and Dearborn Avenue, then embarked with architect William W. Boyington on a tour of opera houses in Union cities. Boyington then designed Crosby's Opera House with assistant architect John W. Roberts. Frescoes were painted by Otto Jevne and Peter M. Almini, who were partners in a Chicago decorating firm specializing in ornamental painting, while William Voegtlin was tasked with other scenic art. Wellbaum & Bauman handled carpentry and masonry with cut stone work by L. H. Boldenweck. The structure cost $600,000 ($NaN as of 2017), which ruined Crosby financially.
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