Millett Opera House
110 E. 9th St., Austin, TXDuring the last two decades of the 19th century, the Millett Opera House at 110 East 9th street was Austin's center for social gatherings. Serving not only as a theater, the Millett also temporarily housed the state legislature, served as a dancing and convention hall and even a roller rink.
With Austin's tremendous growth of the 1870's the need for an opera house became more apparent. In 1878 Charles Millett announced that he would construct an opera house at the site of his lumber yard. The young, booming city anxiously awaited the completion of the theater as frequent newspaper accounts reported almost every phase of construction. When completed in 1878, the Millett Opera House was not only Austin's largest auditorium, but-had the largest span of any building in the state.
The Millett Opera House was designed by F.E. Ruffini, a prominent Austin architect of the late 1800's. Born in Cleveland Ohio, Ruffini moved to Austin to establish a practice and later was joined by his brother, Oscar. Though he died in 1885, F. E.'s works included several county courthouses, jails and the Main Building at The University of Texas, razed in 1934.
With its 800 seat capacity, the Millett was able to accommodate 7% of Austin's entire population.
Without an adequate heating and cooling system, the active theater season was restricted to the fall and spring. During this period the Millett was in constant use and was, un-questionably, the center of Austin entertainment.
Other activities in the structure included political conventions, U.T. commencement exercises, dancing and even boxing.
The phenomenon of roller skating hit Austin in 1884 when Millett announced that the opera house would also be opened for skating.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.