BlockFrom the record
One of 10 National Register listings published here for Butler County · listed in 1988 · category: Building · built in 1889.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Thorpe's Opera House
Built in 1889. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 457-1/2 D St., David City, 68632
- When was it listed? September 1988
- Category. building
- Also known as. Opera House Buildings in Nebraska 1867-1917 MPS
- City. David City city
- When was it built? 1889
- National Register reference number. 88000941 - 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.
Fires near this property
5 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Thorpe's Opera House between 2011 and 2020, burning about 10 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 | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 April 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 5 April 2019 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 April 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 26 March 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 November 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Storms near this property
55 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names David City, the town this property stands in, in 55 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 28 hail, 24 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2007 | Hail | David City | $4,000,000 | Hail up to 2 inches in diameter damaged at least several hundred vehicles in town and also caused roof damage to a few hundred homes. The main damage path was from the southwest into the northeast part of town with the damage estimated at $4 million. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | $100,000 | At David City, strong winds collapsed a large airport hanger and toppled at least five center pivots irrigation systems. Trees fell on two homes in the Surprise area causing damage. Severe tree damage occurred at Garrison and Rising City. Many power lines were downed. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 70 mph did considerable tree damage in David City including downing several trees. Building material near the fairgrounds was also tossed around damaging several cars in the area. |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Personal weather station measured gust of 82 mph. |
| April 2025 | Hail | David City | - | Public report of hail estimated up to 2.4 in diameter. Delayed report with the time estimated from radar. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph. |
| June 2022 | Hail | David City | - | Public reported 2.75 inch hail via social media. |
| June 2022 | Hail | David City | - | Public reported 1.5 inch hail. |
| June 2022 | Hail | David City | - | Public reported an estimated 1.75 inch hail via social media. |
| June 2022 | Hail | David City | - | Law enforcement reported 1.75-inch hail. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 84 mph. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | David City | - | Law enforcement reported flooded roads. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Trained spotter reported several 4 to 8 inch tree limbs down. |
| August 2020 | Hail | David City | - | Public reported 1 inch hail. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Utility company reported large limbs down on power lines. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Utility company reported trees and large limbs down on power lines causing power outages. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Trees and large limbs down due to damaging winds . Roof damage to one building and most of the town of David City was without power. |
| August 2014 | Hail | David City | - | Local law enforcement reported hail ranging from nickle to quarter size in the city of David City. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | The emergency management reported winds to 70 mph. |
| April 2013 | Hail | David City | - | The hail was mostly nickel-size, but a few stones reached around quarter-size. |
| June 2012 | Hail | David City | - | Hail up to 3/4 inch in diameter was reported from a little northwest of David City into town. |
| May 2012 | Hail | David City | - | Hail up to golf ball-size but mostly 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter fell in the David City area. The hail was accompanied by winds that were estimated at 60 mph. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph flipped a trampoline several times and caused some minor tree damage in the David City area. The winds were accompanied by a few hailstones up to golf ball-size. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph downed a tree on 10th Street that just missed a mailman's Jeep. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | A thunderstorm wind gust was estimated at around 60 mph near David City by the fire chief. |
| April 2011 | Hail | David City | - | Hail up to dime-size was reported northwest of David City. |
| May 2011 | Hail | David City | - | Most hail stones in town were 1/2 inch or so in diameter, although some hailstones were around quarter-size or perhaps even a bit larger. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 60 mph downed some large tree branches and power poles in town. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph. The winds downed some trees and knocked power to sections of town. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | A spotter estimated wind gusts from a thunderstorm reached around 60 mph. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph in the David City area. The strong winds were from a super-cell thunderstorm that had produced several tornadoes to the west. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph damaged buildings near a racetrack in the western part of Butler county. The winds also downed power lines in the area. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph were reported 3 miles east of David City. |
| August 2003 | Lightning | David City | - | A lightning strike started a fire that destroyed a 100 year-old barn north of David City. |
| June 1999 | Flash Flood | David City | - | Rainfall of 3 to 4 inches of rain caused flash flooding of many county roads north of David City with water also across highway 15 north of town. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm wind gust over 60 mph snapped two relatively large trees almost in half. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down tree limbs. |
| April 2015 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Hail | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | David City | - | 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
2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | David City Park and Municipal Auditorium | 0.4 miles | 2000 |
 | Chauncey S. Taylor House | 0.7 miles | 1982 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 88000941 in Record Group 79. |
| Butler County | All 10 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.