The Auditorium

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Brief

  This iconic Verona building at 102 West Railroad Street is believed to date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s.  Verona residents can recall a long line of restaurants, bars, and even an inn within its walls.  Among its most memorable iterations was as “The Auditorium” through much of the 1900s.  In the 1930s the Auditorium contained a bar, two dining rooms, and 13 rooms for rent(1).  Free movies were projected outside the building seasonally, attended both by nearby residents and farm families that would travel into town weekly on Saturdays to shop and have fun.

  As you would expect given its long history, there is no shortage of urban legends regarding this building’s past.  One story confirmed by firsthand account dates to the prohibition era of the 1920s.  While the Auditorium’s main bar followed the rules of that time by reducing its offerings to soda pop, candy, and tobacco products(1), the back room was not quite as compliant.  Here patrons could find a variety of homebrew and bootleg liquor brought in from nearby towns, leading to eventual raids by prohibition law enforcement(1).

Sources:

(1)=Behnke, 1972.

Timeline

It has been difficult to assemble a timeline for this building.  Its date of construction varies depending on the source, but it is likely to have been built around 1900.

• Construction date:  Unknown.

• 1915:  This year a "W.P. Blankenheim" applied for a liquor license in this building.  (Source:  Behnke, 1972.)

• 1920s:  Owned by Al Herfel.  The bar business was run by a Hoesly.