The Baker Opera house was built around 1900 and seated 1200 people. 

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The original architect who designed the Baker Opera House was William Arthur Samms. In addition to the opera house, Samms designed the 1905 First National Bank (present location of Mulan Garden restaurant) and homes for Albert Geiser and John Palmer. Samms moved to Pocatello where he continued to work as an architect and civil engineer until his death in 1922.

 

For the first twenty five years of its existence, the theater focused on big stage productions traveling between Salt Lake City and Portland, musical acts and various other events like boxing matches. In 1925 the owners of the Baker Opera House, Jack & Karl Burk, remodeled and upgraded the theater to begin showing motion pictures and at this time renamed it the Clarick, in honor of their relatives-- Clara and Fredericka. The remodel was designed by architect Charles B. Miller, who designed Churchill school, among many other Eastern Oregon projects.

 

Guy Haselton, a theater operator from Montana, bought the Burk's three theaters in the summer of 1928. Within six months, Mr. Haselton and his partner Guy Gaines sold the theaters to Myrtle Buckmiller.

 

Myrtle, Frank, and her son Freeman Geddes, moved to Baker from Seattle, and formed the Baker Theatres Company. In March of 1929, Mrs. Buckmiller installed a Wurlitzer Pipe Oregon at the Clarick. A year later, new sound equipment was installed. They operated the theater through the 1930's with regularly scheduled films and road shows, and hosted a Mickey Mouse Club for local children. 

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1937 was a rough year for the Clarick, resulting in its demise. In February of that year, a pipe burst flooding the theater. It filled the basement with water, and dropped the city's water pressure by 25 pounds! Later in the year, in the early morning hours of November 12th, an employee of Redd's delivery service noticed smoke coming from the theater and alerted the fire department. The theater quickly became engulfed and was completely destroyed.