Clockwise: Today the Old Courthouse and jail houses an art gallery and restaurant. The Woodstock Square is a lovely park in the center of town and the site of the prognostica- tion in the movie. Buildings such as this one are being renovated to their original look.
in Chicago. The theater saw the start of famous performers such as Tom Bosley, Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, and Shelley Berman. In the film, the Opera House became the “Pennsylvanian Hotel” where Andie MacDowell stayed. It’s also in the back- ground of many of the shots taken in the town park, and the site of one of Murray’s suicide attempts, as he leapt from its tower. McHenry County Courthouse Another major historic building is the Old McHenry County Courthouse. Although constructed in 1857, the architectural style was that of the 16th- century Italian Renaissance. Thirty years later the sheriff’s house and jail were added. Today visitors can enjoy dining and perusing the galleries of the Old Courthouse Arts Center. This building also appears in the background of several scenes of the movie but is a bit harder to spot. Central to both the town and the
movie is the verdant Woodstock Square Park. Most of the historic district of the city and some of its inviting shops are arrayed around the park. Of course, in the movie the southwest corner was the site of Gobblers Knob. The Band Stand Dance is at the center of the park. The Royal Victorian Manor Perhaps the most famous building in the movie is the Cherry Street Inn, the Victorian B&B in which Bill Murray awakens every single morning to the radio station playing Sonny and Cher’s I Got You Babe . Lovingly shot from vari- ous angles, the 1894 building started as a private residence but became a B&B after the movie. It is now open for guests as the Royal Victorian Manor. Interior shots were filmed off-site, and its location is different in real life—at 344 Fremont Street rather than over- looking the town center. Of course, Groundhog Day has since become a major event in the city. Although Woodstock never celebrated
and various city departments. But it’s also home to an auditorium that hosted its first performance in 1890 and has been hosting performances ever since. “It’s one of the oldest continuously operating theaters in the country,” notes Managing Director John Scharres, of the Woodstock Opera House. And it has encouraged some of the country’s most famous actors and direc- tors. Orson Welles made his directorial debut there at age 19. After a rather chaotic early life, Welles found a home at the Todd School, a residential school for boys, and a mentor in Roger Hill, teacher and then headmaster at the school. Sadly, Grace Hall, the 1915 Prairie-style dormitory where Welles lived as a stu- dent, was demolished in 2010. The Opera House has seen many other film and movie stars, often before they were famous. In the late 1940s, Woodstock was home to hope- ful actors who had just graduated from the Goodman School of Drama
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