Waterville Opera House

Imagine yourself living in the small town of Waterville, Maine around the turn of the 20th century. Business is booming, and the mills are in full swing. It is an exciting time to be alive. The R.B. Hall Band plays every Saturday night, and everyone comes out to dance. Main Street is bustling with carriages and people. There is a hitching post every few yards or so. Castonguay Square has a beautiful fountain, and is the site of many weekend festivals. Just over the hill, at what is now Head of Falls, sits a tightly compacted residential area, that houses Main Street’s customers and the mills’ laborers.

Strolling into town comes a man named George Adams from Lawrence, Massachusetts. George meets with the City Council and declares that he has a design for an Opera House and asks “How big would you like it?” The City Counselors commiserate for a while (as counselors are prone to do), and they respond by telling George they don’t need an Opera House they need a new City Hall! But George is a resourceful man, and he makes a deal with the Council. “I’ll build you a City Hall, and put an Opera House on top!”