After the silver market crashed in 1893, Aspen entered its "Quiet Years". The Wheeler struggled to stay afloat by showing silent films until two suspicious fires broke out in November 1912.
In 1888, Jerome B. Wheeler—a Civil War veteran and former president of Macy’s—invested his fortune into the booming mining town of Aspen. He commissioned the Wheeler Opera House as the town's cultural centerpiece. wheeleroperahouse
: On April 23, 1889, the theater opened with the comic opera The King’s Fool . The night was so prestigious that local hat makers were overwhelmed by orders for fine millinery. After the silver market crashed in 1893, Aspen
: It was the first theater west of the Continental Divide to be fully wired for electricity, featuring a 36-light chandelier. The Arson Mystery (1912) Wheeler—a Civil War veteran and former president of