Friends of Historic Boonville

THIS PLACE MATTERS!.....and it has mattered for over 150 years to the citizens of rural, central Missouri. 

Built in 1857, before the Civil War, Thespian Hall stands as a historic architectural icon, as well as a source of community pride and culture.  Through the centuries it served the needs of its citizens in a multitude of ways.  It housed drama societies, City Hall, civic groups, a library and reading room, a Civil War hospital and barracks, a saloon, a skating rink, railroad offices, an opera house, a silent movie house, a movie theater and more through its lifetime. Today, the charm of the elaborate mid-western frontier theatre and its heralded acoustics attracts world-class musicians annually for both the Missouri River Festival of the Arts and the Big Muddy Folk Festival.  Locally, generations of dancers, musicians, and community theatre enthusiasts have sparked their passion for the arts on this very stage. 

Thespian Hall has inspired preservation efforts through many generations and eras and those efforts are led today by the Friends of Historic Boonville.  It has been partially restored and serves once again its original purpose as a cultural arts center.  All of the arts patrons, musicians, actors, actresses, dancers, volunteers, preservationists, historians and dreamers in Boonville, Missouri want the nation to know that THIS PLACE MATTERS! 

It mattered in 1857 and it matters in 2011!

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