Property Record
E10964 Moon Road
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Wisconsin Opry |
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| Other Name: | Dells Barn |
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| Reference Number: | 244881 |
| Location (Address): | E10964 Moon Road |
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| County: | Sauk |
| City: | Baraboo |
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| Year Built: | 1957 |
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| Survey Date: | 2022 |
| Historic Use: | theater |
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| Wall Material: | Wood |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2022: The Dells Barn, formerly the Wisconsin Opry, is a barn-like theater that was constructed in 1957. It is a frame building clad in horizontal wood siding with a stepped, segmentally arched roof clad in asphalt shingles. There are two entrances on the façade (south elevation) that flank a small free-standing gambrel roofed wood shed. A shed roof supported by simple wood posts spans the east, south, and halfway across the west elevation of the building. There is a one-story wood sided addition on the west (side) elevation, one-story metal sided addition on the east (side) elevation, and a one-story addition topped with a segmentally arched roof extending from the north (rear) elevation. Fenestration includes four-light fixed wood windows and two-light vinyl sliding windows. Large wood letters on the west elevation read “OPRY” and a sign on the façade reads “WISCONSIN OPRY.” North of the building are three modern barns which house a craft mall, antique mall, and café. It was originally constructed as the Green Ram Theater, which operated until 1967. In 1971, a theater group associated with the Edgewood College of Madison reopened it as the Edgewood Summer Theater. In 1979, the theater was sold to Virgil and Cynthia Dickinson who opened the Wisconsin Opry. In the 1990s, the Opry was moved to a newly constructed dinner barn on the Dickinson property further east along Moon Road. The renamed Dells Barn is now an event space. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Madisonians Assist With Open House at Green Ram Theater Site,” The Capital Times, February 9, 1957. “Wisconsin Dells Theater Offers Well-Loved Plays,” The Reporter, July 22, 1971, 19. “Home,” Wisconsin Opry, accessed September 2, 2022, https://wisconsinopry.com/. “The Dells Barn,” Wisconsin Dells Craft Mall, accessed September 12, 2022, https://wisconsindellscraftmall.com/the-dells-barn. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |