History of the Goss

The opera house, on the second floor of the Goss block building above what was Kreiser’s drug Store for many years, is the last reminder of an age in Watertown when theater played a significant role in leisure life. After extensive restoration work, it’s been brought back to its former luster as one of Watertown’s three opera houses! The Goss is the last of the three.
It was built by Charles Goss after his store at the corner of Kemp and Maple burned in a downtown Watertown fire in April 1888. Goss, a determined businessman, set the foundation in June 1888 for the Goss block. His original concept to build a hotel on the spot was replaced by a notion to construct a public hall for entertainment.
The three-story structure has 125 feet of frontage on Maple Street and 65 Feet on Kemp Avenue. He divided the Maple side into four ground floor stores and the Kemp side into three store fronts. The second floor and third floor house the mammoth opera house and also include office spaces facing outside.
The Goss opened in the spring of 1889, the same year South Dakota became a state. The building’s opening vindicated Goss’ dream that there was, indeed, the market in Watertown for another entertainment facility, despite the castigation he received from the local press and community leader. However, everyone soon became a believer when Goss opened the doors almost a century ago.

The Public Opinion reported on one of the grandest spectacles produced at the Goss during late 1889:
“Goss Hall was filled last night with a large and appreciative audience to witness the Merchant’s Carnival which the ladies of the Congregational Church have had in preparation for several weeks. The entertainment opened with a grand march by 60 ladies in costumes, carrying banners . . . The varied colored costumes and banners with their gold, silver and variegated trimmings glistening in the gaslight, presented a dazzling scene such as never has been witness in Watertown.”
Since then, the theater hosted many festive events, including the organization of the Republican Club, which held many of its meetings there.
A program on August 9, 1901, notes that the Goss Block cost $50,000 and was the largest opera hall in the state, capable of seating 1,500 people.
Goss: A Dream Waiting to be Re-Discovered
Public Opinion.
Thursday, September 8, 1983