Cresco Theatre & Opera House

The Cresco Commercial Club raised the money for this opera house in 1914, and it opened in 1915 with the musical High Jinks. Local engineer Joseph H. Howe designed it and Martin Johnson built it, replacing earlier theaters that had been condemned or substandard. It seats 425, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, and still shows movies and hosts live performances.

The theater has embraced its ghost stories and offers supervised rentals to paranormal groups. Staff and visitors describe apparitions of vaudeville performers on stage, a lone figure that sits in the dark house and vanishes if approached, footsteps, electrical disturbances and voices in the basement when the theater is empty, and a stage spirit nicknamed Dolores. Visiting investigators have reported recording a voice that approved of the current manager.