The Cottrill Opera House was built and opened in 1902 as a vaudeville theater. The theater was sold to the Sutton family in the 1920s, and the venue was changed to a motion picture theater. A Wurlitzer theater organ installation was completed in February 1928.

Sutton Theatre owner Cathryn Sutton leased the theater’s operation to its former projectionist Roger Bonner, effective 1 August 1962.

At some point the venue’s name was changed back to the Cottrill Opera House, and the venue was entered on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. The theater is (slowly) being restored to accommodate live theatre performances once again.

References: Cinema Treasures website; Theatre Organs website : with additional information supplied by Savanna Violet.