Section A • Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, July 22, 1998
1870s
The original structure is named "Liberty Hall" to reflect Lawrence's anti-slavery sentiments.
1900
Audiences attend performances by traveling theaters at the Bowersock Opera House.
1930s
Liberty Hall operates as the Dickinson Theatre. The structure is the same as the current building.
A view of Massachusetts Street in front of Liberty Hall as seen in the 1800's. Contributed Photo.
Liberty Hall: An entertaining history
Chamber of Commerce commemorates fixture of Massachusetts Street
By Robocca Ulanoff
Kansas staff writer
Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St., has undergone many transformations — from a hardware store and office of the anti-slavery newspaper Herald of Freedom to an opera and a disco — in its 140-year history.
Still, entertainment, like the aforementioned concert, has remained and continues to be its essential purpose.
On June 30, members of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Senior Council dedicated a plaque that commemorates Liberty Hall's role in Lawrence history. Liberty Hall was the first building to be dedicated by the Senior Council.
Gary Toebben, president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said that the purpose of the project was to share Lawrence history with citizens and visitors and to point out where significant events had taken place.
Liberty Hall was dedicated in 1870 by a Rev. Bently, who also suggested its name, according to literature from the Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St. In one version of the story, Bently suggested the name because some years earlier, Abraham Lincoln supposedly had called Lawrence the "cradle of liberty."
After the building was sacked and allegedly set on fire by a pro-slavery sheriff from nearby Lecompton, Liberty Hall was rebuilt on the ashes of the Herald of Freedom office in 1856 by Samuel Edwin Poole. Liberty Hall soon became the social and political core of frontier Kansas.
In the early 1800s, Liberty Hall was purchased by J.D. Bowersock, a
Lawrence mayor and eight-year congressman. Liberty Hall was renamed the Bowersock Opera House, which held theatrical and musical road shows until 1911, when a fire gutted the building.
In February 1912, the building was completed. Since then it has been a movie theater, a nightclub and an inn. In 1985, the building was purchased by Lawrence business owner David Millstein and the late Charlie Oldfather, an emeritus professor of law at the University of Kansas and a theater enthusiast. In 1986, it was renovated into the cosmic-themed building that stands today.
The present-day Liberty Hall has a
"Liberty Hall has been an entertainment center, whether live or manufactured, for most of its history."
Steve Jansen
170-seat capacity for concerts or private functions, two movie screens that show independent and foreign films, and an independent video store.
President of Watkins Community Museum of History
"Liberty Hall has been an entertainment center, whether live or manufactured, for most of its history," said Steve Jansen, president of Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St.
Jessie Branson, project coordinator for the Senior Council, said that the next buildings to be commemorated are the House Building, 729-731 Massachusetts St., location of The Bayleaf, and the Goldmaker building, 723-725 Massachusetts St.
The Liberty Hall web site address is
www.pilgrimppage.com/libertyhall.
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