The Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall is an exceptional venue for wedding receptions, parties, meetings, theater productions, concerts, and more.
02/23/2025
A belated Happy Birthday to the Elk Rapids Town Hall, which yesterday celebrated the culmination of its 142nd year serving the people of our Village and surrounding area.
The inaugural event at the Hall was a Grand Opening Ball and Supper held on Feb. 22, 1883. Here's how one contemporaneous observer described the event:
"The Ball and Supper given in the Hall last evening was a success musically, financially and in every way the managers expected to have it. The hall, as before mentioned, is a beautiful one...The music was the best we ever heard in this northern country. All the evening a large number were in the gallery listening to the music and watching the dancing. The supper, which was excellent, was served at 12 O'clock to over 150 persons in the basement of the hall. The total number of dance and supper tickets sold numbered 83, also 73 gallery, and nine supper tickets, making the total receipts $188.75. People participated from the surrounding country and towns: Mancelona, Torch Lake, and Traverse City. All who were present voted in saying it was the best public hall they ever attended. All the visitors were struck with the beauty and convenience of the hall."
I guess some things never change! Here's to the next 142 years for the grande dame of Elk Rapids.
