Haunted Indiana: Guyer Opera House in Lewisville

 

Guyer Opera House in Lewisville, IN - Photo from Nyttend

The Guyer Opera House is a standout in Lewisville, Indiana. Also known as the Lewisville Public Hall, the building sits right on U.S. 40, the first road to cross the country. While locals often come to audition for one of the shows, others come to explore the history of the building. Those who hope to see the ghost of the opera house can even book a tour with Flying Pig Tours.

Constructed in 1901, the Guyer Opera House features gorgeous architectural details from the time period that include Indiana limestone, natural brick, and cast iron accents. Several storefronts sit on the first floor, with the theater on the upper floor. During its heyday, the stores below included some popular local shops.

Home to fewer than 400 people, Lewisville is a small town in Henry County. Established in 1822, Henry County has more townships and unincorporated areas than it does cities. The rural location played a key role in the failure of the opera house. It just couldn't appeal to locals and had trouble simply operating.

In later years, the Guyer Opera House became something of a forgotten relic. While the stores featured a roster of shops that came and went over the years, the second floor was almost never used. that changed in 1969 when a group of locals came together to save the building. Their efforts led to the formation of a nonprofit, which now runs the former opera house.

The first floor is now home to the Aurora Studio Theatre, while an auditorium on the second floor hosts bigger events. Guyer made its way onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, which helped it gain even more fame. With that fame also came infamy as stories grew about the ghosts of the Guyer Opera House.

One of the more common stories concerns a show staged not long after the theater opened. The Wild West Show featured real working guns to give it a more authentic feel. A young boy came to the show with his parents, excited to see the gunslingers and get a dose of action and excitement. In a cruel twist of fate, a stray bullet shot through the crowd and hit the boy, leaving him dead on the spot.

I found a more credible version of the story, which gives the young boy a name: Newell Calpha. Calpha was just six and an active member of the Boy Scouts when he visited the opera house in 1923 with his troop. Adults brought riffles in and talk with the Scouts about how to properly hold and use a gun. Ironically, the gun discharged and hit Calpha, causing him to die in front of his troop. Volunteers and others believe he's the little ghost they see running around behind the stage.

Others believe the old opera house is haunted by O.K. Guyer, the original owner. Not long after his opera house opened, Guyer passed away. To honor him, they held his funeral inside the building. Dozens of people flocked through the doors to pay their respects and say their final goodbyes. Both volunteers and visitors wonder if Guyer decided to stick around.

Actors rehearsing and performing on stage occasionally see a man in an old-fashioned stovepipe hat. He usually sits near the back and seems to delight in the action he sees. One actor remembers his first time on the stage. He looked out and saw a man sitting in one of the last rows and waved to him, thinking it was one of the other actors. When he turned for a second to grab his script and looked back, the man was gone. It was only later that he learned he saw a ghost.

No one would blame Guyer for sticking around. Many in Lewisville ridiculed him for opening a local opera house. While they were correct in thinking no one would come to such a small town and the opera house would not be a success, Guyer failed to listen. He put a lot of his personal wealth into the building, only to die at the age of 49. Some claim the stress of hearing people talk about him behind his back contributed to his early death.

The Guyer Opera House may hold a few spirits connected to one of the most tragic events in the history of Lewisville. In 1893, the buildings located downtown used gas-powered lights at night. One of the gas lines running under the ground exploded, sending shock waves through the community. When the dust settled, almost every building downtown was gone. It was on one of these spots Guyer chose to build the new opera house.

William Hickman was just one of those who believed at least one person who died in the blast haunted the building. While working in the Guyer Opera House, he got an uncomfortable feeling. Minutes later, an explosion shook the building, knocking out all of its windows but doing little structural damage. Hickman believed a presence in the building pushed him through one of the broken windows, saving him from what could have been life-ending injuries.

There are also rumors of restless spirits haunting the opera house. Legend says that prior to closing down, one of the stores on the bottom floor was a funeral parlor. The parlor was one of the main places in the county for residents to turn to when someone close passed away. I've heard from a few people about strange noises and lights coming from its old location.

For more than two decades, the Guyer Opera House sat empty, just another forgotten building in an old downtown city. Those who dared to walk by at night often saw dark shadows in the windows and heard the sounds of people laughing, whispering, and coughing inside. While those noises may come from trespassers in a big city, in a small town like Lewisville, people pointed to ghosts.

It didn't help that when the opera house reopened, performers began seeing strange things, too. While some spotted shadowy figures hanging out in areas that were off-limits and disappearing when approached, others heard people whispering behind them when no one was there.

Buy tickets and get help planning your trip on the official website. Find Guyer Opera House at 110 W. Franklin St. in Lewisville, IN.