Fire swept through Danville, Kentucky on the 22nd day of February in 1860. Almost every church, business, hotel, and livery in the central business district was consumed. One very important first redevelopment of the town in the post-Civil War era was the construction of a theater venue. James Hall was built and financed by Joseph McAlister James, known locally as Joseph McJames.
Inferno Builds James Hall

- Inferno Builds James Hall
- James Hall Timeline
- Danville Before the Fire Storm
- McJames & Financiers Form a Bank
- What James Hall Looked Like
- How James Hall Was Constructed
- Sale of Commercial Stores Beneath James Hall
- Attractions at James Hall
- Stout’s Movie Theater at James Hall
- James Hall Gets Washed Out
- James Hall Today – A Site Forgotten
- RELATED
James Hall Timeline
Danville Before the Fire Storm

McJames & Financiers Form a Bank
What James Hall Looked Like
Beginning around 1850, small towns aspired to have an Opera House. Most were built according to a construction template. Stores occupied the ground level. The opera house occupied the upper two stories of a building.
Joseph McJames was a visitor to Columbus, Ohio. He and his family even resided in Westervelt [today’s Westerville], north of Columbus for a period of time. A little further north is the town of Mount Vernon, Ohio. There, the town built the Woodward Opera House in 1850. The theater in Ohio may have inspired Joseph McJames to build James Hall in Kentucky a decade later. The two theaters are nearly identical, built in the same manner, and served the same purposes.
How James Hall Was Constructed
Joseph McJames constructed James Hall to give himself a free and clear ownership of the theater, while the rental stores beneath James Hall produced an income stream to retire any debt or mortgage for the building.

Physically, the building consisted of three stories. At ground level, individual storefronts serviced a variety of businesses. First occupants included a Post Office, the Central National Bank, a drug store, and a fourth merchant. An entry hall and staircase lead upstairs to the theater, which occupied the upper two stories of the building.

The storefronts at ground level were sold in separate ownership interests to individual business owners, similar to financing schemes of today for cooperative, mixed-use, or condominium developments. The sale of ground floor units paid for the entire construction of the building. Joseph McJames owned James Hall, free and clear.