Orpheus Hall
Vernal, Utah
C. W. Showalter, and Andrew King opened the Orpheus Hall on Thanksgiving Day, 30 November 1911. The amusement hall had a spring dance floor, but was also used for roller skating, basketball, banquets, and movies. It was named after the Greek god of Mirth, “a famous musician who is reputed to have had power to entrance men, beasts, and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.” At 11:00 PM on New Years Eve, 1928, the hall was renamed Imperial Hall. In a ceremony on 20 April 1965, Governor Governor Calvin L. Rampton took a sledge hammer and delivered the first blow in the demolition of the hall as part of a community beautification campaign.
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Novelty Theater Fire
Salt Lake Tribune, 17 October 1895, page 7
Yesterday morning at about 2 o'clock fire was discovered in the old Novelty theater building on Twenty-fifth street, belonging to Stevens Bros. The fire started under the stage, and before it could be brought under control had burned out the stage and rear portion of the building.
The fire is believed to have been of incendiary origin, as shavings smelling strongly of kerosene were found under the stage. The loss is estimated at $1000, covered by insurance.
