Adrian Union Hall

In 1863 Charles M. Croswell (Michigan governor 1877-1881) formed an association to construct a new theater. An 1866 bird’s-eye view of Adrian shows the completed exterior. Originally designated the Adrian Union Hall, by 1887 it was called Croswell Opera House. The theater hosted such performers as Maude Adams, Edwin Booth, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Charles Frohman, Victor Herbert and the Gilmore Band, Joe Jefferson, Thomas W. Kean, James Whitcomb Riley, Otis Skinner, and John Philip Sousa. In 1921 the interior of the building was renovated to show motion pictures. In 1967 the building was rescued by the Adrian Foundation from threatened demolition. Its care was then entrusted to the new Croswell Opera House and Fine Arts Association.