Shirley Opera House

Built in 1907 (Queen Anne style). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

From the record

One of 2 National Register listings published here for Rawlins County · listed in 2007 · category: Building · built in 1907, Queen Anne style.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 503 Main St., Atwood, 67730
When was it listed? January 2007
Category. building
Also known as. Theaters and Opera Houses of Kansas MPS
Township. Atwood township
When was it built? 1907
Architectural style. Queen Anne style
National Register reference number. 06001241 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

1 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Shirley Opera House in 2015, burning about 250 acres in total. 1 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
Natural	1

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
13 September 2015	Natural	250 acres	Kansas Forest Service	4

Every fire recorded in Rawlins County

Storms near this property

60 of 273 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Atwood, the town this property stands in, in 273 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 167 hail, 84 thunderstorm wind, 10 tornado, 5 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2008	Lightning	Atwood	2 hurt	Three workers were shocked when their natural gas drilling rig was struck by lightning. Two workers were taken to nearby hospitals and were treated, kept overnight, and released the next morning.
April 2007	Tornado (EF1)	Atwood	$305,000	Tornado developed near Roads C, 19 and dissipated near Roads M, 22 in Rawlins county. This was a high end EF1 tornado producing significant damage to a home, removing the roof and destroying many outbuildings, grain bins and trees near Roads C, 19. Other farms were affected with outbuilding and irrigation system damage.
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$145,000	Fourteen power lines were broken off along CR 23 southeast of Atwood.
April 2007	Tornado (EF1)	Atwood	$26,000	Tornado developed near Roads K, 27 and dissipated near Roads P, 28. Power poles were broken, with one residence receiving outbuilding and window damage.
May 1999	Hail	Atwood	$20,000	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$15,000	Grain Bin destroyed from winds and hail. Crops also suffered extensive damage in the area.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$12,000	Numerous tree branches blown down in Atwood. A large tree is blocking Highway 25. Reported through Spotter Network. Estimated time of report from radar.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$12,000	Winds estimated to at least 70 mph brought down 12 power poles.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$10,000	Thunderstorm wind damage was reported in Atwood with lots of trees down and power out in the city.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$10,000	Power lines down. Semi overturned.
October 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$10,000	Gusts to 70 mph blew in or shattered windshields on 5 vehicles. The awning on the Rawlins Museum was brought down and the roof on the courthouse was damaged. At 1321CST, trees and branches were downed 2SW of Atwood.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$3,000	Carport blown into neighbors fence, taking out 50 ft. of the fence.
June 2008	Hail	Atwood	$1,500	Hail broke the mirror and resulted in dents to a vehicle.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$1,100	Strong thunderstorm winds damaged a latched storm door, broke a 4 x 8 foot glass window and snapped some two-inch diameter live tree limbs.
July 2019	Lightning	Atwood	$1,000	Lightning damage was reported from a thunderstorm in Atwood. The report was received via Facebook message with a picture showing minor damage to a brick chimney with a few bricks damaged.
April 2011	Lightning	Atwood	$1,000	At 1150 CDT, lightning struck next to the golf cart stalls at the Atwood Country Club. One golf cart, and three cart stalls, were damaged.
June 2008	Hail	Atwood	$1,000	Wind-driven hail broke windows on the west side of the residences.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$1,000	Cellar door ripped off. Four-inch live branches down. Hood and seat of lawn tractor blown off.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$800	Power poles down on Highway 25.
June 2008	Hail	Atwood	$650	Wind-driven hail up to nickel size piled up into 10-inch deep drifts, broke one house window, the back window of a pickup truck, and two vehicle side mirrors. The brief storm also stripped leaves off vegetation and some bark off of trees.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$500	Shingles blown off residential roof, 4-inch diameter tree uprooted, several tree branches down.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	$50	Spotter reported a green tree limb down with picture of a 2-3 inch limb.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Estimated wind gusts of 50-60 MPH with the wall of dust.
June 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	Pea to nickel size hail was reported in Atwood.
July 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	Public report of penny to nickel sized hail in Atwood.
July 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	A trained spotter reported hail ranging from pea to nickel size.
July 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	Nickel size hail was reported in the town of Atwood.
August 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	A CO-OP Observer reported hail ranging from pea to quarters in size. Hail occurred before the rain did.
September 2025	Hail	Atwood	-	Photo of 1 3/4 inch hail currently falling in Atwood. The hail ranged from quarter to golf ball in size.
July 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Spotter reported quarter sized hail covering Highway 25 near Mile Marker 215.
August 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Multiple social media reports received of hail ranging from pea to half dollar in size in the city of Atwood.
July 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Spotter report of quarter and ping pong ball sized hail.
July 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Spotter report of 1 inch hail.
July 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Public report of 1.5 inch hail.
July 2023	Hail	Atwood	-	Picture and videos of golf ball sized hail.
July 2022	Hail	Atwood	-	Report received via social media of hail up to pennies in size at location.
June 2022	Hail	Atwood	-	Multiple reports of nickel to quarter sized hail observed in the city of Atwood.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Report received of an estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust at location.
June 2021	Hail	Atwood	-	Report of golf ball sized hail received at location. Time is radar-estimated.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Spotter reported wind gusts to 70 mph.
August 2019	Flash Flood	Atwood	-	Streets were flooded over in Atwood due to heavy rain.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	A storm chaser estimated around 70 mph winds about 1 mile northwest of Atwood, KS.
June 2018	Hail	Atwood	-	The hail ranged from dime to nickel in size.
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Twelve pine trees 70 to 80 ft. tall were blown down. One of the trees was broken in three places. Another tree was pulled out of the ground with the roots still attached. All the wires were pulled off the individual's house due to a tree falling. All the damage was in one direction. There was also significant hail damage, but no size was given. One corn field nearby was completely destroyed.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Trees, big limbs, and power lines blown down by the thunderstorm winds. No details on the number or trees, limbs, or power poles blown down were provided.
June 2016	Hail	Atwood	-	Hail was reported up to the size of golf balls.
June 2016	Hail	Atwood	-	Large amounts of hail fell with the largest stones measuring one inch.
June 2016	Hail	Atwood	-	Large amounts of 0.75 inch hail fell in the town of Atwood.
June 2016	Flash Flood	Atwood	-	Highway 25 covered in some areas due to very heavy rain. Street flooding also noted on some of the city roads in Atwood.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Large tree was reported down in Atwood. They were not sure if it was the winds or a lightning strike that downed the tree. Reported via social media.
July 2016	Hail	Atwood	-	Car windows broken in Atwood.
July 2015	Hail	Atwood	-	Also reported 2.33 inches of heavy rainfall.
November 2015	Hail	Atwood	-	Dime to nickel size hail was reported.
June 2014	Hail	Atwood	-	Time of report estimated from Doppler radar.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Measured at the airport 2 N of town. Coop observer in town estimated 60 MPH wind gusts a few minutes after the severe winds were reported at the airport.
April 2014	Tornado (EF0)	Atwood	-	A brief landspout tornado was observed from Highway 36 near Beardsley looking south. Position estimated from outflow boundary location and developing cells on Doppler radar.
June 2013	Hail	Atwood	-	Estimated quarter size hail and wind gusts to 60 mph. Visibility briefly reduced to near zero.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Estimated quarter size hail and wind gusts to 60 mph. Visibility briefly reduced to near zero.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Atwood	-	Employee estimated peak winds around 60 mph.
June 2013	Hail	Atwood	-	Hail stones ranged from 1/2 inch to 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Reported via Spotter Network.

Every storm recorded in Rawlins County

Map coverage status

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.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 06001241 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Rawlins County	All 2 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.