Growing up in Columbia, Jerry Wasche would often look at the site of the former Columbia Opera House at 300 Locust St. and think of its history. "It was a beautiful building, and there was really no tribute to it," Wasche recalled. "I always said somebody should write a book about it." A little over two years ago, Wasche decided he was that someone. His book, "The Last Opera: A History and Tribute to the Columbia Opera House," was released in March.
The book details the opera house, which opened in 1875 and burned to the ground in 1947. "The more research I did, and the more I got into it, I couldn't believe how much information I found," Wasche noted, adding that his research included using the National Archives. "I used three-quarters of a ream of paper to take my notes."
Wasche's book details a brief history of Columbia and then segues into the need for the first town hall building. When the townspeople decided to construct a new municipal building, they also began discussions to include an opera house at the site, one that would rival the other well-known opera house in Lancaster County at the time, the Fulton Opera House in downtown Lancaster.
"The Columbia Opera House had 944 seats," Wasche remarked. "When it opened, it was the largest opera house in the state of Pennsylvania." He noted that all genres of entertainment were featured at the site, including burlesque and minstrel shows, plays and musicals. The most famous person he could find with connections to the site was Al Jolson, who toured the building after performing at the Fulton and said he wanted to come back and play at the opera house someday. That didn't happen before the building burned down, Wasche noted.
"The Last Opera" is Wasche's first book. He retired after 40 years in the printing industry and said writing the book taught him a lot about the history of the building and of Columbia. It's something that he is particularly interested in as an active member of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society.
Wasche noted that one of the challenges of writing his book was finding photographs to include. "There are only three known photos of the entire building," he stated, adding that one showcases the cast of a play called "Professor Napoleon." He was able to find pictures of old playbills, and many are included in the book. Much of the building's paper and photo history was destroyed in the fire, which began as a small blaze in a room in the building on Feb. 19, 1947. Although fire crews responded almost immediately, they erroneously thought the fire was out and left the scene, not realizing it was still burning within the building's walls. "It took four years to build the opera house and four hours for it to burn down," Wasche said.
Since the book was released, Wasche has been busy with book signings, and he still has a few more scheduled. He will be at Columbia Public Library, 24 S. Sixth St., on Saturday, June 3, from 9 a.m. to noon, and he will sell the book at Columbia Railroad Day, to be held Saturday, June 10, at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center, 41 Walnut St.
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