 Gaye Schroeder was the guest speaker at the Navarro County Genealogical Society on March 8, 2008. Schroeder, through many countless hours, has researched not only the history of the opera house, but the people behind the scenes such as architects and building owners such as John Minor and Thomas Beckett.
“When I bought the building,” Schroeder said, “I noticed the name Beckett near the top below the roof line … I just had to know who he was.”Schroeder said Beckett was an electrician and purchased the Merchants Opera House on September 6, 1913 for a sum of $25,000 cash.He also had two $6,000 notes.“According to the historical marker in front of my building,” said Schroeder, “Mr. Beckett had planned on making the opera house into a movie theater.” Schroeder said before Beckett could complete the renovation the building burned the day before Easter in 1914, after learning this bit of news from an old Dawson newspaper account. “I couldn’t find anything about what happened in any of the Corsicana newspapers,” She said. “But there was that one headline ‘Corsicana has $80,000 fire.’”Needless to say, Schroeder was ecstatic to finally find an article about the Merchants Opera House fire.“I couldn’t thank Innis Waggoner enough,” Schroeder said.The result of finding the newspaper article caused a snowball effect as Gaye intensified her research even more.She began to go through newspaper articles in Dallas, looking through old deed records, and other avenues for research, including tapping into Ron Maxfield’s extensive knowledge about downtown Corsicana. The research led her to learn more about the building’s owner, and the architect, John Minor.Schroeder brought with her several photographs and copies of deed and legal records for audience members to view as well.“If you would like to learn more about the owner, architect, or the opera house,” said Schroeder, in closing, “You may drop by the flower shop and I’ll be glad to sit down and talk with you some more about this important bit of history.” She also thanked the Genealogical Department, located in the Corsicana Public Library, and to Bobbie Young, with Pioneer Village, for helping her with the research project. |
