From the time I first compiled an article on the formation of the Marion Elks Lodge #800 in Marion a couple of years ago, I was intrigued with the statement that they were occupying the old Dunaway Opera House. The Dunaway building was located where the old F.W. Woolworth building is located in the 600 block on the west side of the public square. Since then, I have kept my eyes open for clues as to some history on the building and finally found its origins. It is still yet to be determined whether the building which served as the Woolworth building and still exists today, is the original Dunaway building or a modified form of it. Perhaps time will tell, but till then, I wanted to record what I have discovered about the building in the hopes that it can be added to as time goes by.
An article appearing in the Egyptian Press weekly newspaper dated April 17, 1885, states, ”Ground has been broken this week for the large brick business house of Dunaway Brothers, on the west side of the public square. This building, when completed, will be one of the most commodious and best constructed, for business purposes, in our city. It will combine two large store rooms on the first floor 25 x 79 feet and the entire second story will be arranged for a spacious, well-ventilated public hall, 50 x 79, just such a city hall as this place needs. Mr. Isaac Rapp, of Carbondale, has the contract, and this assures a speedy construction and good work. Dunaway Bros. are to be commended for their enterprise. The increasing prosperity of this city demands the business rooms this building will afford, and the want of a properly constructed city hall is a long-felt one.”
Another article appearing just a week later confirmed that the materials used in the on-going construction were of top quality.
On June 12, 1885, the Egyptian Press reported, “The Dunaway Bros. brick building was to have been finished , as to the brick work, last week, but the hod carriers struck a few days ago for better wages, and the work has been considerably retarded. The contractor would have bettered himself financially to have made the concession the laborers asked, as they only demanded an advance of 15 cents a day each. As the building was carried upward and work of the hod carriers became more laborious, and the common verdict is that the demand for better wages was a just one.”
An unrelated, peripheral article noted that wire screen doors and windows were “now the rage in Marion and were tip-top to keep out flies and the thousand and one kinds of bugs that are want to swarm about the evening lamp.”
While a safe was being hoisted up the stairwell of the Dunaway building to the second floor, a rope broke and allowed the safe to cascade down the stairs injuring worker, Robert Booth, who suffered a crushed foot. An article noted that he was laid up for eight weeks and would likely be a cripple for life.
An Egyptian Press article dated October 2, 1885, noted,”Mr. L.H. Caelton of Carbondale has just completed the inside work of Dunaway Brothers new building on the west side, the counters and shelves below and the stage above. This work shows Mr. C. to be a master mechanic, one of the best in the country. He did the fitting up of the reels and roller process in Prindle & Stotlar’s flouring mill, and in this also, showed his signal ability as a mechanic.”
Shortly after October, 1885, the building was in full operation and presumably housed businesses on the lower floor at street level with the accompanying opera house on the second floor.
The following was written up in the 1905 Souvenir History of Williamson County and refers to the formation of the Marion Elks Lodge in 1902. “It has fitted up the old Dunaway Opera House in a substantial and attractive manner, with electric lights and fans, chairs, carpets and an elegant piano with the famous Angelus automatic attachment. It has also a good billiard room and table, and a large and well-appointed dining room for festive occasions.
The hall has a seating capacity of from three to five hundred, with a broad central stairway of only one flight, opening directly on the street on the west side of the square. Convenience, safety and elegance are all the conditions and arrangements, and it is not surprising that it is rapidly increasing in members, applications being received at every meeting.”
The Dunaway Brothers referred to in the articles were the sons of pioneer merchant Samuel Dunaway who settled Bainbridge and was instrumental in establishing the Carbondale and Shawneetown Railroad. His grandson, Samuel Dunaway, was a long time real estate and insurance man in Marion with an office and home at 205 S. Market where the Bradley Insurance House is now located.
My hopes are that further clues will be found on this building over time.
(Extracted from 1885 Egyptian Press newspaper articles and the 1905 Souvenir History of Williamson County)