Much is unknown about the Belton Opera House, located at 222 N. Main Street in Belton, South Carolina, which once entertained crowds on the town square as it is known today. It is believed that the actor and bullwhip master Lash LaRue played here when he toured America with his Great Western Show.
LaRue may have left a trail of busted bad guys in his wake from his movies, but off camera, LaRue reportedly left a trail of broken-hearted young women across the country when he toured the nation in person.
It is said that she lived in Belton after returning from military service to the town following her grandmother’s passing. The woman is said to have met LaRue at the opera house, who promised to return one day to whisk her away. The pair even exchanged telegrams, but soon the messages stopped. It is believed the young woman who was pregnant climbed to the top of the Belton Opera House, clinching the last telegram that LaRue had sent her, just after midnight, and leaped into the afterlife as she threw herself from the top of the building to the hard ground below.
Some have claimed to have seen her apparition in the shadows of the building’s roof, heard sobs, and heard her climbing the stairs on the upper floors.
I researched this story and was not able to confirm that Larue played here or the possible identity of the deceased woman.
Written By John G. Clark Jr.
