BlockBefore
Photograph of Wright Opera House
Photograph by Unknown, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Wright Opera house Block Complex

Built in 1880 (Italianate architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

From the record

“The Wright Opera House Block, also known as the Alma Opera House Block, is a commercial block located at 101-113 East Superior Street and 408 North State Street in Alma, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.”

Wikipedia article Wright Opera House Block, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Gratiot County · listed in 2013 · category: Building · built in 1880, Italianate architecture.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 101-113 E Superior & 408 N. State Sts., Alma, 48801
  • When was it listed? June 2013
  • Category. building
  • City. Alma city
  • When was it built? 1880
  • Architectural style. Italianate architecture
  • National Register reference number. 13000443 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

9 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Wright Opera house Block Complex between 2012 and 2019, burning about 12 acres in total. 2 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/undetermined5
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
18 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesMID-MICHIGAN COMMUNITY FD 0000289 - 2019
9 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesITHACA FD 0000246 - 2019
7 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesITHACA FD 0000237 - 2019
14 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesALMA FD 0000136 - 2019
29 June 2012Smoking2.7 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGRATIOT 01
28 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesITHACA FD 0000161 - 2019
7 February 2019Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesITHACA FD 0000056 - 2019
28 February 2018Natural1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesALMA FD 0000042 - 2018

Every fire recorded in Gratiot County

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Wright Opera house Block Complex: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Bromine, Salt, Calcium, Magnesite, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Roslund Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
St Louis Tile Co Clay PitClayPast Producer
Velsicol Chem. Natural Brine PlantBromine, Salt, Calcium, MagnesitePast Producer

Every working recorded in Gratiot County

Storms near this property

19 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alma, the town this property stands in, in 19 storm reports between 1999 and 2022: 12 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2000Thunderstorm WindAlma$25,000no account filed
April 2014Thunderstorm WindAlma$20,000Power lines were blown down and there was damage to a garage roof in Riverdale.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindAlma$15,000no account filed
May 2013Thunderstorm WindAlma$10,000A trained spotter reported large trees and power lines down near Alma and estimated wind gusts of up to 70 to 75 mph.
February 1999Thunderstorm WindAlma$10,000Some trees and power lines were downed by strong winds.
June 2005HailAlma$10,000no account filed
December 2007Thunderstorm WindAlma$5,000High winds ripped the siding off of a house.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindAlma$5,000Two trees were blown down in the city of Alma.
May 2006HailAlma$5,000The public reported three quarters inch diameter hail in Ithaca and near Alma.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindAlma$5,000no account filed
May 2013Thunderstorm WindAlma$2,000Several large limbs were blown down in Alma by gusts estimated up to 60 mph.
April 2022HailAlma-An isolated severe storm produced up to one inch diameter hail near Alma.
July 2014HailAlma-One inch diameter hail was reported by a trained spotter near Alma.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindAlma-A peak wind gust of 59 mph was measured.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindAlma-Numerous trees were blown down in Alma.
July 2012HailAlma-Up to one and three quarters inch hail was estimated by trained spotters in Alma.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindAlma-The 911 dispatch center in Alma reported that several trees and power lines were blown down across downtown Alma.
May 2007HailAlma-A trained spotter two miles south of Alma reported three quarters inch diameter hail.
May 2007HailAlma-A trained spotter in Alma reported three quarters inch diameter hail.

Every storm recorded in Gratiot 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.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Alma Downtown Historic Districtunder 500 feet2013
Dr. Charles H. MacLachlan Sanitarium and House4.3 miles1982
Ithaca Downtown Historic District6.8 miles2005
Gratiot County Courthouse6.9 miles1976

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 13000443 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Gratiot CountyAll 6 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.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • 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.