Strolling the sidewalks of any downtown street, on any given day, in any given town of any size has the potential to provide a history lesson. Oftentimes, lurking in plain sight is a footnote from the past that is ready to educate the observant passerby. Take the 100-block section of Ocoee Street in downtown Cleveland, Tenn., for just such an example. A keen eye will spy the historical marker attached to a column of the Craigmiles Hall building, telling the tale of a most fascinating fact of Cleveland history and how the city found its song.
As most stories go, there is usually a backstory, and this story is no exception to that rule. To fully appreciate the Craigmiles Hall building, a trip to Cleveland in the mid- to late-19th century is necessary. Pleasant (Yes, really his given birth name), aka PM Craigmiles, a banker and businessman, settled in Cleveland somewhere around 1849. During the Civil War, he made a fortune by selling gear to the Confederacy and accepting only hard currency (gold or silver), no paper money, as payment. After the war, he and his brother, John, purchased several lots in downtown Cleveland, further adding to the family’s fortune. Needless to say, the Craigmiles were a very wealthy and very influential family in Cleveland back in the day. As property development advanced and the city began to grow, PM’s son, Walter, envisioned building a space for events and shops where the community could gather. In 1877, at the ripe old age of 23, he commissioned the construction of Craigmiles Hall, Cleveland’s first opera house and “mini” mall.
Completed in 1878, Craigmiles Hall projects its Second Empire architectural style to the city by distinguishing itself from the surrounding buildings with a complex mansard roof encompassed by patterned slates, deep bracketed cornices, hooded porthole dormers, a rooftop platform and a most curious central window arrangement: two arched windows topped with a single round window above the main entrance. No one knows who the architect of Craigmiles Hall was; however, it has been speculated that it was Peter J. Williamson, a Nashville architect known for his Second Empire style work. Williamson had been in Cleveland in the early 1870’s designing an edifice for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a project commissioned by John Craigmiles, Walt’s uncle, so it stands to reason that Walt would have turned to Williamson to design the “opera house.”
Craigmiles Hall’s first floor was occupied by a few shops while the theatre occupied the second floor. Measuring 85 feet by 40 feet with a 20-foot high ceiling, it was an astounding size for an opera house in a town with a population of less than 3,000 residents at the time of construction. Who knows why Walt felt compelled to build such a large space. Perhaps he had a hunch about Cleveland and its potential for growth, or maybe it was simply the folly of a 23-year-old’s ego, but regardless of the reason, he built it, and the growing population of Cleveland supported it. Craigmiles Hall soon became the cultural nexus of the city, attracting talent from near and far, not the least of which was an American composer and conductor by the name of John Phillip Sousa.
Primarily known for composing American military marches (“The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Semper Fidelis”), Sousa visited Cleveland on January 30, 1906, where he played his song “The Diplomat” for the first time to the audience assembled at the massive Craigmiles Hall Opera House. Honored to have such a prolific musical talent grace the city, as well as debut his newly composed song in Cleveland, city officials proudly claimed “The Diplomat” as the city song.
And that’s the story of how an opera house in Cleveland, Tenn., quite literally set the stage for the city to find its song.
“The Diplomat” has been dubbed by some musical enthusiasts as the most elegant march ever written, espousing the march as a stylish appointment of beauty and grace versus a bombast. Listening to the upbeat, light and airy march, the mind’s eye is bound to conjure up a well-dressed man or woman as he or she jauntily strides down a sidewalk in Anywhere, USA, casually tipping a hat or lending a friendly nod to the passerby.
Craigmiles Hall is located on the East side of the Courthouse Square in Cleveland at 170 Ocoee Street, NE. Currently, its first floor is home to a retail shop and the restaurant, Cobblestone Grill. The second floor theatre space has been converted into two levels offering professional office space.
It’s worth a trip to see Craigmiles Hall up close and personal in all its architectural glory. Unfortunately, with the current pandemic, the shop and Cobblestone Grill located on the first floor are closed, but hop down a block to Cafe Roma for a delicious Italian meal, and, just for a kick in the pants, stroll down a few storefronts from Cafe Roma to the Ocoee Cigar Bar for a cigar or not. Either way, stop in for a few moments to enjoy the atmosphere, it’s quite entertaining!
by JD Harper
JD Harper is a local author. “Glint,” her debut novel, is set in Chattanooga amid its rich Civil War history and rock climbing culture.
As most stories go, there is usually a backstory, and this story is no exception to that rule. To fully appreciate the Craigmiles Hall building, a trip to Cleveland in the mid- to late-19th century is necessary. Pleasant (Yes, really his given birth name), aka PM Craigmiles, a banker and businessman, settled in Cleveland somewhere around 1849. During the Civil War, he made a fortune by selling gear to the Confederacy and accepting only hard currency (gold or silver), no paper money, as payment. After the war, he and his brother, John, purchased several lots in downtown Cleveland, further adding to the family’s fortune. Needless to say, the Craigmiles were a very wealthy and very influential family in Cleveland back in the day. As property development advanced and the city began to grow, PM’s son, Walter, envisioned building a space for events and shops where the community could gather. In 1877, at the ripe old age of 23, he commissioned the construction of Craigmiles Hall, Cleveland’s first opera house and “mini” mall.
Completed in 1878, Craigmiles Hall projects its Second Empire architectural style to the city by distinguishing itself from the surrounding buildings with a complex mansard roof encompassed by patterned slates, deep bracketed cornices, hooded porthole dormers, a rooftop platform and a most curious central window arrangement: two arched windows topped with a single round window above the main entrance. No one knows who the architect of Craigmiles Hall was; however, it has been speculated that it was Peter J. Williamson, a Nashville architect known for his Second Empire style work. Williamson had been in Cleveland in the early 1870’s designing an edifice for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a project commissioned by John Craigmiles, Walt’s uncle, so it stands to reason that Walt would have turned to Williamson to design the “opera house.”
Craigmiles Hall’s first floor was occupied by a few shops while the theatre occupied the second floor. Measuring 85 feet by 40 feet with a 20-foot high ceiling, it was an astounding size for an opera house in a town with a population of less than 3,000 residents at the time of construction. Who knows why Walt felt compelled to build such a large space. Perhaps he had a hunch about Cleveland and its potential for growth, or maybe it was simply the folly of a 23-year-old’s ego, but regardless of the reason, he built it, and the growing population of Cleveland supported it. Craigmiles Hall soon became the cultural nexus of the city, attracting talent from near and far, not the least of which was an American composer and conductor by the name of John Phillip Sousa.
Primarily known for composing American military marches (“The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Semper Fidelis”), Sousa visited Cleveland on January 30, 1906, where he played his song “The Diplomat” for the first time to the audience assembled at the massive Craigmiles Hall Opera House. Honored to have such a prolific musical talent grace the city, as well as debut his newly composed song in Cleveland, city officials proudly claimed “The Diplomat” as the city song.
And that’s the story of how an opera house in Cleveland, Tenn., quite literally set the stage for the city to find its song.
“The Diplomat” has been dubbed by some musical enthusiasts as the most elegant march ever written, espousing the march as a stylish appointment of beauty and grace versus a bombast. Listening to the upbeat, light and airy march, the mind’s eye is bound to conjure up a well-dressed man or woman as he or she jauntily strides down a sidewalk in Anywhere, USA, casually tipping a hat or lending a friendly nod to the passerby.
Craigmiles Hall is located on the East side of the Courthouse Square in Cleveland at 170 Ocoee Street, NE. Currently, its first floor is home to a retail shop and the restaurant, Cobblestone Grill. The second floor theatre space has been converted into two levels offering professional office space.
It’s worth a trip to see Craigmiles Hall up close and personal in all its architectural glory. Unfortunately, with the current pandemic, the shop and Cobblestone Grill located on the first floor are closed, but hop down a block to Cafe Roma for a delicious Italian meal, and, just for a kick in the pants, stroll down a few storefronts from Cafe Roma to the Ocoee Cigar Bar for a cigar or not. Either way, stop in for a few moments to enjoy the atmosphere, it’s quite entertaining!
by JD Harper
JD Harper is a local author. “Glint,” her debut novel, is set in Chattanooga amid its rich Civil War history and rock climbing culture.
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