Fife Opera House

The Fife Opera house was built in 1888 to 1899.  David Fife built it.  It was built on Main street in Palestine IL, and it was 3 stories tall.  They used it for multiple purposes.  The second floor was for plays.  It seated 700 people with red leather seats. The theater was considered very grand at the time that it was built and it had all of the conveniences of the time period.  This included things like: electric fans, and a coal furnace. The first floor was for a hardware store and a general store.   In the early 1900s the Fife Opera House stopped producing plays and eventually shut down.  For a period of time it was used as storage space.  Eventually, it was used as a bobby pin factory in the 1950s.   Today, it has been restored and is used to educate others about its history.