Some nights you plan. Some nights just happen. This one was a little of both. Cam (my wingman) and I loaded up for a 30-minute drive from our home in Oxford, Ohio, to downtown Middletown to see the Cincinnati Transit Authority, one of the best Chicago tribute bands around, play the historic Sorg Opera House. Before the night was over we had passed a castle, stopped at a friend’s brewery, found a Wisconsin soda older than the Civil War, and watched a concert from a private opera box like a couple of 1890s railroad barons.
The Haunted Mansion on South Main Street
As we rolled into Middletown, a huge, dark stone building with turrets, tall chimneys and a carved eagle perched on the roof came into view. My first thought: Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion moved to Ohio. Cam just said, “Whoa.”
This is the Sorg Mansion, and it has a story. It was built in 1887 by Paul J. Sorg, a tobacco man who became Middletown’s first multimillionaire and later served in Congress. The Richardsonian Romanesque “castle” was expanded in 1902 to 27 rooms and is about 13,000 square feet. It has 12 bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 12-foot ceilings and a fireplace in every bedroom.
By the 2010s the mansion had been sitting empty for years. Then in 2013, Mark and Traci Barnett from the Baltimore area saw it listed on the internet and bought it for $225,000, less than a lot of starter homes cost today. Mark is a railroad engineer, so you know I like him already. For more than a decade they have poured their lives and savings into it. They have put on a new slate roof, re-roofed the carriage house, rebuilt the box gutters, repaired the wraparound porch, and recreated the plaster walls and big decorative ceiling medallions. It was the first project in Middletown to use Ohio’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit. Their dream is to open it as an owner-occupied bed and breakfast. Cam has already asked if we can stay there on Halloween.
Address: South Main Street, Middletown, OH 45044 (private residence: please admire from the sidewalk)
Website: https://www.journal-news.com/news/everyone-wants-to-see-a-castle-sorg-mansion-open-for-tours-this-weekend/article_ce5ecd4c-11fb-5523-bab8-00bd91ee45a0.html
First Stop: Gravel Road Brewing Company
No Dad and Cam adventure starts without a brewery stop, and this time it was Gravel Road Brewing Company, owned by my friend Dan Lauro. I love the building. It is an old industrial brick building that used to house Rolling Mill Brewing, and at night, with the Gravel Road script painted on the side and the windows glowing, it looks like it belongs in a movie.
Dan is a real student of brewing history. Before opening Gravel Road in the summer of 2023, he was head brewer at Carillon Brewing Co. in Dayton’s Carillon Historical Park, where he brewed beer the way it was made in the 1850s: by hand, over a wood fire, in period clothes. He named his brewery after the gravel road on his family’s farm in northwest Ohio, in honor of his dad. He once said he didn’t want to be sitting in a rocking chair at 80 wondering if he could have run his own brewery. He also knows his way around the U.S. Open Beer Championship, where Gravel Road has brought home medals.
I ordered the doppelbock, and it was outstanding: a deep mahogany pour with rich malt, a bit of roast, caramel notes and a smooth finish. It is the kind of “liquid bread” Bavarian monks used to drink during Lent. Cam started with his usual Diet Coke, and then Dan surprised us. He asked Cam if he would like an orange cream soda. Cam’s face said yes before he did. And now, Point Orange Cream Soda is Cam’s favorite soda.
Address: 916 First Ave., Middletown, OH 45044
Website: https://gravelroadbrewing.com
A Soda With a Civil War Pedigree
The bottle said Point Premium Orange Cream, made with 100 percent real sugar by the Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. I knew Point was an old brewery, but it is even older than I thought. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest continuously operating breweries in the country. It supplied beer to Union troops during the Civil War, and it stayed alive during Prohibition by making near beer and soft drinks. The modern Point Premium soda line started in 2002 with root beer and grew to include Vanilla Cream, Black Cherry Cream, Orange Cream and a Wisconsin supper-club favorite called the Kitty Cocktail.
Cam’s review: one big orange-mustache smile. Creamsicle in a bottle.
Address: 2617 Water St., Stevens Point, WI 54481
Website: https://www.pointbeer.comb
The Sorg Opera House: Middletown’s 1891 Jewel
With our drinks finished, we headed over to the Sorg Opera House. The marquee was lit up with CINCINNATI TRANSIT AUTHORITY NOV 7, and Cam posed under it like he was the headliner.
The Sorg was a gift to Middletown from that same Paul J. Sorg who built the mansion. It opened on September 12, 1891, with a comic opera called “The Little Tycoon.” Sorg hired Samuel Hannaford, the architect of Cincinnati’s Music Hall, and the Sorg has the same two curved balconies. It originally seated about 1,200 people. Over the years John Philip Sousa, Will Rogers, Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker and Bob Hope all played its stage. It switched to silent movies around 1915, showed “talkies” by 1929, survived a fire in 1935, and slowly fell into disrepair.
In 2012, a nonprofit group called the Sorg Opera Revitalization Group (SORG) bought the building for just $32,000 and has been bringing it back to life ever since. It is not polished like a brand-new theater, and that is the charm. You can see the peeling plaster, faded gold leaf, deep red velvet seats and ornate box seats beside the stage. Local legend says Paul Sorg’s ghost still keeps an eye on the place.
Address: 63 S. Main St., Middletown, OH 45044
Website: https://www.sorgoperahouse.org
Old Friend and the ClassX Radio Crew
We got there a little before showtime and ran into my old friend, DJ Rock n Roll Stu, along with most of the crew from ClassX Radio. Stu introduced me to the staff and to owner Bill Spry. ClassX is a great story in its own right. Bill started it in the basement of a Liberty Township home and spent years fighting for low-power FM licensing so a community rock station could exist. Today ClassX is a listener-supported, nonprofit, independent rock station on 88.9 FM that plays rock and supports local bands.
Bob Uecker Seats to Royal Box
We took our “Bob Uecker seats” (“juuust a bit outside”) way in the back, and it didn’t matter one bit. The Cincinnati Transit Authority was fantastic. The eight-piece band focuses on Chicago’s classic early years, the Terry Kath era, and they nail it. The lead guitarist was on fire, and the horn section was tight, loud and perfect.
At intermission I got popcorn for my wingman, and on the way back we took the long way. Up the stairs. Up a few more. Before long, Cam and I were sitting in the balcony box seats overlooking the stage. We felt like royalty, and nobody asked us to leave. Rock n Roll Stu took our picture up there: two guys in an 1891 opera box, one holding a popcorn box and grinning ear to ear.
The last song of the night was “Make Me Smile,” and the band dedicated it to Stu. Judging by the look on his face, I think it made his night. It made ours, too.
The Drive Home
It was late when we headed back to Oxford. I was running on fumes after a 24-hour, 1,000-mile round trip to Canada and back to deliver cider finalists to Niagara College, but I wouldn’t have traded the evening for anything. The Canada run was a solo trip. This one had my wingman back in the passenger seat, popcorn crumbs and all.
A castle, a doppelbock, a soda older than the Civil War, a Gilded Age opera house and a horn band playing “Make Me Smile.” Not a bad Saturday night in southwest Ohio.
Address: 63 S. Main St., Middletown, OH 45044
Website: https://www.sorgoperahouse.org
