Savannah River Scenic Byway
Abbeville Opera House, SC

During the early years of the Twentieth Century, the Abbeville Opera House hosted many "road companies" on tour from New York to Atlanta. The town's love affair with the theater grew over performances of The Clansman and Shakespear's classic, Romeo and Juliet.

With the onset of moving pictures, the Abbeville Opera House offered a unique combination of both live theater and motion pictures. Although the addition of new technology led some of Abbeville's citizens to wonder about whether or not the moving pictures contained appropriate materials. Despite these concerns, movies became more and more a part of the Abbeville Opera House until it closed in the 1950s.

After a hiatus of several years, the Abbeville Community Theater group organized a campaign to restore the old Opera House to its turn-of-the-century condition, although air conditioning and rocking chair seats were welcome advances. In May of 1968, Our Town premiered in the newly restored theater. Since then, the Abbeville Opera House has accommodated theater-goers with hundreds of fine productions. Today, a winter season of community theater, along with a repertory theater company summer season, continue to entertain residents and guests alike.