Bandstand (1st)

Date

1879-1907

Location

Tappan Square near the corner of Main and College Streets

Architects/Collaborators

Builder unknown

Style

Victorian

History

Early photographs of the Oberlin campus indicate a raised platform that appears to be a bandstand, but prior to the 1870s these were typically temporary structures that could be moved to different locations, and covered with canvas. The first permanent bandstand in Oberlin was this Victorian wooden octagon located on Tappan Square near the Historic Elm (saved from clearing when Oberlin was founded), at the corner of Main and College Streets. The funds for the bandstand were raised by the Oberlin Cornet Band, along with funds for new uniforms and instruments. The band played at parades, sunlight and moonlight serenades, and all sorts of public occasions. The bandstand burned in a fire in 1907 and was not replaced.

Source

Author unknown, "A History of Bands in Oberlin" (unpublished manuscript, September 2, 1987), Bandstand Subject File, Oberlin College Archives.