Galloway family has long history in Mount Airy

Our History

Italian immigrant makes life for his family

A photograph of Robert Richard "R.R." Galloway, owner of Galloway Opera House in Mount Airy. Image courtesy of Surry Digital Heritage.

A photograph of Agnes Galloway in the 1926 Brenau University yearbook.

An advertisement for the Galloway Opera House in February 1894, advertising a series of lectures on the "Great World's Fair," the landmark exposition that was held in Chicago the previous year.

The first members of the Galloway family emigrated from Scotland to North Carolina in 1783, and quickly established themselves as prominent figures in the local area. By the time Robert Richard "R.R." Galloway, son of one of the original emigrants, was born in 1830, the family had become major land and business owners in the area.

Robert farmed a large section of land just outside of Mount Airy, alongside owning numerous businesses in town. When the city of Mount Airy was first incorporated, Robert served on the board of commissioners.

Robert would be married three times in all, first to Caroline Smith in 1849 (until her death in 1854), then to Mary Virginia Cardwell (from 1856 until her death in 1869), and to third wife Lucy Antoinette Blackwell (from 1874 until her death in 1894). Having originally lived on the outskirts of town, the family made the move into the city, believing it would benefit Mary Virginia's health. Robert Galloway was the original owner of a house at 731 North Main Street. He lived in the house with his third wife, Lucy Blackwell Galloway. Before this, he had owned the house next door.

While married to Mary Virginia, the couple had four children. However, they would be met with grief when their daughter, Mary Kate, died at just 5 years, while Robert was away in the Civil War, in the role of a musician. Not long after he returned from the war, his wife also died. Some claim the father was haunted by the spirit of his daughter, and that a young, ghostly girl can be seen in the rooms where her father's opera house used to reside.

Also while married to Mary Virginia, Robert Galloway built the Galloway Opera House. At the time that the building was being constructed, Galloway owned a planing mill (which turns wood into lumber), and oversaw the construction, acting as his own contractor.

Located at 420 North Main Street in downtown Mount Airy, the two-story building housed dry goods and general supplies on its ground floors, while located on the second floor of the building was the Galloway Opera House. The site was one of the first entertainment venues in Mount Airy.

The expansive opera house had seating for 500 guests, and during its heyday was the largest gathering room in the local area. Its size was made great use of, holding all kinds of events, from musical performances, traveling plays, graduations, political meetings, criminal trials, and church services. The theater operated from 1891 until 1909. When it opened on Jan. 6, 1891, the first performance was from the New York Theatre Company. Most theater companies passing through would spend a week or so performing at the opera house with numerous performances. The advertisement for Emma Warren Theatre Company, playing for one week at the Galloway Opera House in March 1897, in a different play every night, calls their show "strictly a clean show and nothing will be said or done to offend the most fastidious." Admission was 25 cents.

The performance hall closed in 1909, and in 1912, the building was owned by the G. C. Lovill Company, a wholesaler which until then was located on the Prather block, and at the same time the stage from the second floor was removed.

In the early 1960s, the building became home to the Brannock and Hiatt Furniture Store, where the store remains to this day.

It is believed that throughout the building's life as an opera house, the first floor was always used as various types of stores. At one point, Robert Richard's son, R.J. Galloway, operated a store on the first floor of the same building which housed the opera house, selling everything from ladies dress goods, imported novelties, and fancy millinery.

R.J. Galloway, R.R's son, was similarly touched by loss like his father. Married to Agnes Nutt, they had a daughter, also called Agnes. The young woman would attend Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, being a freshman there in 1926. Just with her aunt who passed away as a child, a ghost story has also popped up surrounding Agnes. The legend goes that Agnes’ ghost haunts the auditorium at the college, with various reasons given to her lingering presence, the most common being she committed suicide after being spurned by her lover. The fact that there's evidence of her being alive and well until 1929, living in Mount Airy, until she passed away from tuberculosis does little to dissuade believers.

The Galloway family left a lasting impact on the community of Mount Airy. R. R. Galloway's Opera House was a major Mount Airy institution for many years. Despite the family's personal struggles, including the loss of loved ones, the legacy of Robert Richard Galloway and the Galloway family continues to be remembered through their contributions to the community and the historical significance of the Opera House.

Katherine "Kat" Jackson is an employee at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Australia she now lives in King and can be reached at the museum at 336-786-4478.