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

 

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. 

 

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.