'Turnback Tuesday' features history of Sterling Opera House

Sterling Opera House on Elizabeth Street, Derby

Turnback Tuesday discovers the origin of the Sterling Opera House name.

The opera house, or “Borough Building” as it was referred to when being built from 1888-89, opened to the public on April 2, 1889 with a Grand Gala and a performance of “Drifting Apart.”

An article dated 1-25-1889 from the Evening Transcript said: “The courtroom is large and well-lighted as are all the offices; the fireman’s quarters cannot be excelled in the state. The opera portion is pronounced by experts to be most compact and the handsomest in New England. The cellar portion furnishes plenty of room for tramps and prisoners.”

Mr. Jean Jacques of Waterbury won the bid on leasing the Sterling Opera House at $2,000 per year for five years. Mr. Jacques stated in an article (above) on 3-26-1889 that he “considers it a happy hit to name the Sterling Opera House after one of the finest concerns in town and perhaps the most widely known throughout the country. Sterling instruments will be used.”

Charles Sterling was the founder of the Sterling Piano Co.

Thanks goes to the Derby Public Library for sharing interesting local history each week.