Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
“The Sesser Opera House is a historic theater located at 106 W. The theater was built in 1914 to replace a previous theater, which had been built in 1904 and burned down ten years later.”
Wikipedia article Sesser Opera House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 3 National Register listings published here for Franklin County · listed in 1982 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Sesser Opera House between 2007 and 2012, burning about 80 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | NONE |
| 12 August 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | SESSER3 |
| 23 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | TLAUTH |
| 21 June 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | not named |
| 14 June 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | not named |
| 6 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | ILL |
| 4 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | MILLER |
| 23 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BENDER |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sesser, the town this property stands in, in 53 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 19 hail, 3 funnel cloud, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | 1 hurt, $250,000 | A microburst with peak winds around 90 mph caused major damage in Sesser. At least 100 homes were damaged in the small community, mostly by falling trees. The storm snapped or uprooted hundreds of trees, including about 100 in Sesser. At least eight utility poles were broken by fallen trees. A building under construction in Sesser was levelled. Some homes and businesses in and near Sesser lost shingles. Due to power outages and debris on roads, a curfew was issued for Sesser. All of the damage was in the northern part of town. An 18-foot camper at Wayne Fitzgerrell campground on Rend Lake was overturned, injuring one person. In Sesser, a man removing a tree from a roof was injured during the cleanup (indirect injury). The path length of the microburst was about five miles. The path width was a couple of miles. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $250,000 | A thunderstorm macroburst with peak winds from 80 to 90 MPH damaged numerous buildings. A few storage buildings and several weak structures such as barns were destroyed. The damage path length was about 3 miles, and the width was up to 880 yards. A lumberyard on Highway 148 was extensively damaged. Several large trees were uprooted. Two metal warehouses were damaged, a carport was destroyed, and a storage shed roof was damaged. A double wide mobile home was unroofed, and another mobile home had one side blown off. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $100,000 | Widespread damage occurred to trees and power lines. Utility poles were snapped along Illinois 154. Twelve utility poles were floating in Rend Lake next to the Route 154 causeway. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $75,000 | According to several public reports on social media including pictures, widespread wind damage occurred with several trees and power lines downed in Sesser as a thunderstorm moved southeastward through the town. One tree fell onto a car. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $70,000 | Widespread wind damage occurred across the county. Multiple power poles were down. A downed power pole on State Highway 154 at Rend Lake trapped a person in a vehicle. Numerous trees and power lines were down, causing power outages. Trees up to two feet in diameter were down in Benton. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $60,000 | A damaging microburst with peak winds to 85 mph struck northern Franklin County, including the Rend Lake area. The microburst path length was about 12 miles, and the width was up to 1.5 miles. The microburst caused extensive wind damage across mainly the northern parts of Sesser. Many dozens of trees and tree limbs were blown down, causing roof damage to at least a couple of houses. Power outages occurred as power transformers were blown. Large branches were blown down in Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park on Rend Lake. A tree was blown down across Illinois Route 37 near the Jefferson County line. Large branches were broken, and a roof was torn off a mobile home near Ewing. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $50,000 | Trees and power lines were down at both Sesser and Ewing. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $40,000 | A metal roof was removed and structural damage occurred on Lucretia St in Sesser. Tree and power line damage occurred in multiple spots in Sesser. Storms from the previous evening may have made trees and power lines more susceptible to damage from this storm. |
| December 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $30,000 | A single-wide mobile home was blown over and destroyed west of Valier. A metal-framed barn collapsed in the Sesser area. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $30,000 | A travel trailer was thrown 60 yards. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $30,000 | A severe thunderstorm struck the Rend Lake area, a major recreational area. A boat capsized on the lake. Damage occurred along a four-mile wide path in the vicinity of Illinois 154. Light poles were down. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $20,000 | In Sesser, numerous trees were blown down, with some lying across a few vehicles and homes. Along the west side of Rend Lake at south Sandusky Beach, numerous small trees and limbs were down. A four-inch diameter branch ripped through the roof of a camper. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $15,000 | Tree damage was reported across the area. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $10,000 | An overturned semi and trailer was reported along Highway 154. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $10,000 | A mobile home on Illinois Route 148 lost parts of its roof. |
| May 2009 | Flash Flood | Sesser | $10,000 | Widespread flooding was reported over many county roads. Extensive street flooding occurred in West Frankfort. In Christopher, a home was surrounded by floodwater, and a nearby outbuilding was flooded. |
| February 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $10,000 | About 15 power poles were knocked down along Route 154. The poles, which were 18 to 24 inches in diameter, were snapped off at 10 feet above ground level. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $8,000 | Numerous tree limbs were down. Gutters were blown off a house. Power outages occurred across the county. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $3,000 | Tree branches several inches thick were snapped off on Highway 154 between Sesser and Rend Lake. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $3,000 | The corner of a 3-car garage was ripped off. |
| April 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $2,000 | The top of a barn was blown off. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $1,000 | The thunderstorm wind speed was estimated by a trained spotter as the storm tracked eastward across northern Franklin County. |
| September 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | $1,000 | A few power lines were blown down. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Sesser | - | Hail ranging in size from nickels to ping pong balls fell around Sesser. |
| July 2024 | Funnel Cloud | Sesser | - | A funnel cloud was reported nearly to the ground around Hwy 148 and Crocker Rd. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Sesser | - | Quarter-size hail was reported in Sesser. |
| March 2021 | Flood | Sesser | - | A secondary road was flooded near Sesser. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Sesser | - | A swath of quarter-size hail occurred from Sesser across southern Rend Lake. |
| May 2020 | Flood | Sesser | - | Torrential rainfall caused minor flooding. |
| June 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Sesser | - | A trained spotter reported the funnel cloud was moving west. The spotter was following the circulation along a westward-moving rain band associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill. |
| March 2015 | Heavy Rain | Sesser | - | Several county roads in rural farm country were covered by water. No official road closures were reported. At Mulkeytown, the storm-total rainfall was 4.49 inches. Of that total, 4.29 inches fell on the 13th and 0.20 inches fell early on the 14th. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Sesser | - | Also, some tree limbs were down within the city limits. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Sesser | - | Copious amounts of quarter-size hail covered the ground. |
| January 2008 | Hail | Sesser | - | Nickel size hail was reported at Sesser and along Interstate 57 at the Benton exit. |
| February 2007 | Heavy Rain | Sesser | - | Standing water was on roadways. |
| October 2007 | Hail | Sesser | - | Quarter to golf-ball size hail fell along a swath from Sesser to Rend Lake to Whittington. The large hail was produced by a supercell thunderstorm. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Sesser | - | Golf ball size hail fell on the west side of Sesser and just south of Rend Lake College. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Sesser | - | Golf ball size hail was reported a mile north of Sesser. Dime size hail fell in Sesser. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | - | In Sesser, hundreds of trees and limbs were blown down, a few of which landed on houses and power lines. A large uprooted tree destroyed a house in Sesser, caving in part of the roof and an outside wall. A nearby house received minor damage from branches of the same tree. Several roofs were damaged and numerous tree limbs were blown down on the north side of Sesser, in an area about a half mile long and three blocks wide. An unofficial measured gust of 75 MPH was reported at a fire station. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | - | Power lines were blown down in several communities west of Interstate 57, including Sesser, Christopher, Mulkeytown, and West Frankfort. Some tree limbs were blown down in Sesser. |
| June 1998 | Funnel Cloud | Sesser | - | The funnel cloud was observed by emergency services personnel. |
| October 2019 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| February 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| November 2006 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| February 1999 | Hail | Sesser | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Flash Flood | Sesser | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 82002535 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Franklin County | All 3 listed properties in this county. |
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