The Tin Shop was built in 1865-66 by a Buchanan merchant and subsequently used for a furniture factory. Changing hands several times over the years, it has operated as a lumber dealer business and as another factory. It served as a hospital during the 1918 flu epidemic; Clark Equipment Company manufactured and sold air-conditioned beds here, and in the last years of production made their original drill products in this historic building. Clark sold theTin Shop to the Buchanan Co-op in 1950, which sold it to the City in 1981.

The Tin shop is a factory style building common to the 1860-1880. Among its more interesting architectural features are its good proportions, its nine-pane, double-hung windows, and its board-lined room upstairs over the West side.

In 1982 the Fine Arts Council began the task of turning the building into a fine arts center. It wasn't until the summer of 1984 that any shows were performed in the Tin Shop Theatre. We have staged over 80 productions. This past winter another major goal was reached with the installation of comfortable theatre seats, padded and four inches wider than the old hard chairs we previously had in past seasons. What a difference they make! 2004 marks our 20th summer season in this historic facility.