The Messenger Opera House was located on the northeast corner of Chestnut and South Center streets. It was opened in December 1881 by Julius A. Bonitz. The top floor, which had a seating capacity of 900, hosted means of entertainment and events such as national touring companies, motion pictures, political debates, minstrel shows, musicals, plays and school commencements. The first floor housed prominent businesses as well as Goldsboro’s first bus station. Major William Uzzell & son of Thomas Wood Uzzell from 1920 to 1929. The theater in the opera house building entertained audiences until 1928, when its entrance was sealed after the death of its proprietor. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel damaged the building and it was reduced to a one-story structure.
Transcription: "Goldsboro Opera House.” taken in 1922. Owned by my father Major William Uzzell & son of Thomas Wood Uzzell from 1920 to 1929. First store to the left; was entrance to upstairs, to the Opera House; later, first motion picture theatre in town; also used for county school commencement exercises, cir. 1911-1915. Store to the far right corner was the first Bus Station in Goldsboro. Notice A & P Store in Center, with fire escapes and two big signs on the Southside. 2 don’t remember other stores, one may have been a Dry-cleaning business. W. E. U."