The original frame of the Cedarville Opera House was constructed in 1886 only to be destroyed by fire within the year. The architectural plans for the current brick Opera House, built in 1888, were brought to Cedarville from England by Cedarville native Whitelaw Reid. Whitelaw Reid was a noted publisher and US Ambassador to England and France and his portrait hangs above the Opera House stage. The design of the Opera House is a 1/3 scale model of the Royal Albert Hall in London. Hohn W. McLean of Cedarville built the structure.

In the late 1800s the Pennsylvania Railroad, which ran through Cedarville, made the construction of an opera house a logical step for a growing town. Over the next 60 years the Cedarville Opera House became the center of community life, opening its doors to minstrel and medicine shows, touring drama groups, orators, political rallies, magic lantern shows, and high school and college graduations and programs.

Due to the advances in transportation and accessibility to outside entertainment, the opera house closed its doors in 1956 and remained unused except by bats and pigeons for nearly 30 years.