BlockFrom the record
One of 8 National Register listings published here for Lincoln County · listed in 1977 · category: Building.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Lake Benton Opera House
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. Benton St. between Fremont and Center Sts., Lake Benton, 56149
- When was it listed? March 1977
- Category. building
- Township. Lake Benton township
- National Register reference number. 77000753 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Mines and quarries near this property
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Lake Benton Opera House: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasperson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lake Benton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
60 of 67 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake Benton, the town this property stands in, in 67 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 28 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 9 flood, 2 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | $200,000 | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Lake Benton | $100,000 | Large hail caused damage to windows, vehicles, and crops. The amount of crop damage was not known. |
| June 1997 | Hail | Lake Benton | $100,000 | Large hail devastated crops in most of Lincoln County. An estimated 180 thousand acres of crops were affected, with 80 thousand acres totally destroyed. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | $100,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage and other minor property damage in much of Lincoln County. |
| April 2004 | Hail | Lake Benton | $100,000 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | $100,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous power lines along U.S. Highway 14, and caused tree damage. |
| September 2019 | Flood | Lake Benton | $5,000 | After excessive two-day rainfall during September 10-12 (8.93 inches at Flandreau and 8.64 inches near Pipestone), Flandreau Creek near Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) reached the highest stage on record of 5.46 feet above flood stage on September 12. Numerous township and county roads were inundated by water, as well as significant amounts of agricultural land. |
| June 2001 | Tornado (F1) | Lake Benton | $2,000 | A tornado which formed just west of the state line crossed into Minnesota and immediately destroyed two outbuildings on a farm near highway 14. Debris from the outbuildings was stretched over one and a half miles. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured at the Minnesota Road Weather Information System site near Lake Benton, with a peak gust of 64 mph at 1928 CST. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Flandreau Creek near Flandreau rose above flood stage the morning of June 22nd, cresting around 2.46 feet above flood stage (11.46 feet) on June 22nd. This crest is in the Moderate Stage. The creek then fell below flood stage on the afternoon of June 24th. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Lincoln County. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Flandreau Creek near Flandeau, SD rose above flood stage on the early morning of April 9th before cresting around 0.28 feet above flood stage (9.28 feet) on April 9th. The creek then quickly fell below flood stage midday on April 9th. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 68 mph was measured by Minnesota Road Weather Information System site MN027 1 mile west-northwest of Lake Benton. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 62 mph was measured by Minnesota Road Weather Information System site MN027 1 mile west-northwest of Lake Benton. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Large sections of the roof on a single-family home were blown off by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph was measured by Minnesota Road Weather Information System site MN027 1 mile west-northwest of Lake Benton. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Flandreau Creek near Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) reached a crest of 0.20 feet above flood stage on May 28. The main impact was inundation of agricultural land and additional delays to spring planting in the flood plain. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 2.22 inches at Flandreau and 1.70 inches at Pipestone) resulted in extensive flooding of agricultural land and inundation of the city golf course in Flandreau. Flandreau Creek above Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) crested 1.88 feet above flood stage on March 28. |
| April 2018 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Snow melt and runoff from periods of heavier rainfall briefly produced minor flooding with significant impact to lowland agricultural areas and inundated sections of the Flandreau golf course. River levels reached 1.1 feet above flood stage on Flandreau Creek near Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) on April 23. |
| June 2018 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | A week of periodic heavy rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 2 to 5 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20 and 24. Weekly rainfall totals reached 4.08 inches 6 miles east of Ivanhoe. Minor flooding occurred with significant amounts of crop and pasture land inundated as Flandreau Creek near Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) crested 1.2 feet above flood stage on June 26. The river dropped below flood stage on June 27. |
| July 2018 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Crop and pasture land was inundated as levels on Flandreau Creek climbed to 1.8 feet above flood stage above Flandreau (gage site FCRS2) on July 1. After dropping briefly below flood stage, the river returned above flood stage with moderate flooding 2.1 feet above flood stage on July 4. |
| September 2018 | Flood | Lake Benton | - | Crop and pasture land was inundated, as well as portions of the Flandreau Golf Course, as levels on Flandreau Creek above Flandreau climbed to 1.1 feet above flood stage (gage site FCRS2) on September 21. The river returned quickly below flood stage on September 22. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Measured by Mesonet Station MN028. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Multiple tree branches were downed by strong winds. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Large evergreen was snapped off at the ground. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | Lake Benton | - | Rainfall of 2.84 inches was measured in less than 3 hours. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power poles. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds caused an unknown amount of tree damage. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including numerous branches blown down. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | Large hail was accompanied by heavy rain. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches around 4 inches in diameter blown down. The winds were accompanied by nickel size hail. |
| July 2011 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | Nickel size hail was accompanied by damaging thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | Large hail was mostly nickel size with a few larger stones. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds snapped off a blade of a wind turbine. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Lake Benton | - | Fields and roads were flooded after heavy rain. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds caused an unknown amount of tree damage. |
| June 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Lake Benton | - | A brief tornado caused no reported damage or injuries. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | Thunderstorm winds overturned a pontoon boat. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Lake Benton | - | no account filed |
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
6 within 8 milesOther 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 | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Benton Opera House and Kimball Building (Boundary Increase) | under 500 feet | 1982 | |
| Ernst Osbeck House | under 500 feet | 1980 | |
| Drammen Farmers' Club | 6.7 miles | 1980 | |
| Lincoln County Fairgrounds | 7.5 miles | 1980 | |
 | Danebod | 7.6 miles | 1975 |
| Tyler Public School | 7.7 miles | 1980 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 77000753 in Record Group 79. |
| Lincoln County | All 8 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.
- 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.