Print
E-mail
Comment
Honky-tonks, Dance Halls and Roadhouses…
  
|
By Marene Gustin
The blue, wood-frame house that is home to Blanco’s Bar & Grill sits on a huge dirt parking lot in the middle of West Alabama, looking to all the world like a misplaced relic of Texas history in a sea of high-rise development.
“We’re what you’d call a River Oaks honky tonk,” said manager Karin Barnes, who’s been at Blanco’s almost since it opened 26 years ago. Known for a mean burger and some of the best Texas county dance music — the likes of Cory Morrow and Gary P. Nunn have played here. Blanco’s offers city slickers a boot scootin’ good time. But in terms of dance halls, it’s just a baby.
Built in 1878, New Braunfels’ popular Gruene Hall is the oldest continually run dance hall in the state but even it gets beat out historically by Anhalt Hall, which was built in 1875 by the Germania Farmer Verein, a farmers’ co-op.
“Most of them were built by farmers’ co-ops and Czech and German social societies,” said Patrick Sparks, president of Texas Dance Hall Preservation, Inc. “They were the center of rural society, a place where families came together. A dance hall is the most Texas thing there is. It’s all about old people and kids and music, just like it was 100 years ago. It’s a magical part of our heritage.”
Most folks outside the Lone Star State probably only know Texas dance halls from John Travolta’s 1980 flick Urban Cowboy, most of which was set in the now gone Gilley’s in Pasadena. But many dance halls, honky tonks and road houses still survive and even thrive.
Texas music, more than any other kind, is about dancing. From country music to Western Swing, Cajun, Tejano and Conjunto, in Texas if it has a beat people will get up and two-step to it. Texas was once home to more than 1,000 dance halls, and besides the European influence, or because of it, Latino and even African-American dance halls once thrived here. The Texas Dance Hall Preservation estimates several hundred historical structures still survive and it keeps track of them and encourages their patronage.
Some halls still exist but aren’t used as dance halls anymore. The Garten Verine in Galveston is a special events venue.
Luckily, the 1880 Garten Verine, a German, eight-sided dance hall, has survived on the island. It is currently still closed from the storms effects, but remains intact.
The Cat Spring dance hall is now used for seasonal antique shows.
Both of the structures were built by Germans and feature the eight-sided architecture popular at the time.
“The buildings are really neat,” Sparks said. “But it’s really about keeping the culture alive.”
If you want to put on your cowboy boots and get your groove on, Sparks recommends checking out Anhalt’s October Fest dance Oct. 19 or the SPJST Hall in Fayetteville — just a day trip from Houston — where a public dance was held in September to commemorate the town’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places. SPJST, a fraternal Czech organization, also still has a couple of lodges in Houston like the Pokrok #88 on Bell Street that offers polka dancing every Saturday night.
“It’s just great exercise and it’s fun,” said John Rivard, editor of Texas Polka News. Rivard and his wife Marlys have been dancing since 1990 and have visited 357 dance halls in Texas and at least one in each of the 50 states. And while the pair can beat a rug to everything form Cajun to Western Swing, they prefer polka music. Why?
“Polka dancing is like aerobics with beer!” Rivard exclaimed. And that’s a hard combo to beat.
Texas Dance hall Preservation
Visit the Texas Dance Hall Preservation Inc.’s website at www.texasdancehall.org for a list of Texas dance halls as well as events and dances going on at the historic dance halls.
“We’re what you’d call a River Oaks honky tonk,” said manager Karin Barnes, who’s been at Blanco’s almost since it opened 26 years ago. Known for a mean burger and some of the best Texas county dance music — the likes of Cory Morrow and Gary P. Nunn have played here. Blanco’s offers city slickers a boot scootin’ good time. But in terms of dance halls, it’s just a baby.
Built in 1878, New Braunfels’ popular Gruene Hall is the oldest continually run dance hall in the state but even it gets beat out historically by Anhalt Hall, which was built in 1875 by the Germania Farmer Verein, a farmers’ co-op.
“Most of them were built by farmers’ co-ops and Czech and German social societies,” said Patrick Sparks, president of Texas Dance Hall Preservation, Inc. “They were the center of rural society, a place where families came together. A dance hall is the most Texas thing there is. It’s all about old people and kids and music, just like it was 100 years ago. It’s a magical part of our heritage.”
Most folks outside the Lone Star State probably only know Texas dance halls from John Travolta’s 1980 flick Urban Cowboy, most of which was set in the now gone Gilley’s in Pasadena. But many dance halls, honky tonks and road houses still survive and even thrive.
Texas music, more than any other kind, is about dancing. From country music to Western Swing, Cajun, Tejano and Conjunto, in Texas if it has a beat people will get up and two-step to it. Texas was once home to more than 1,000 dance halls, and besides the European influence, or because of it, Latino and even African-American dance halls once thrived here. The Texas Dance Hall Preservation estimates several hundred historical structures still survive and it keeps track of them and encourages their patronage.
Some halls still exist but aren’t used as dance halls anymore. The Garten Verine in Galveston is a special events venue.
Luckily, the 1880 Garten Verine, a German, eight-sided dance hall, has survived on the island. It is currently still closed from the storms effects, but remains intact.
The Cat Spring dance hall is now used for seasonal antique shows.
Both of the structures were built by Germans and feature the eight-sided architecture popular at the time.
“The buildings are really neat,” Sparks said. “But it’s really about keeping the culture alive.”
If you want to put on your cowboy boots and get your groove on, Sparks recommends checking out Anhalt’s October Fest dance Oct. 19 or the SPJST Hall in Fayetteville — just a day trip from Houston — where a public dance was held in September to commemorate the town’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places. SPJST, a fraternal Czech organization, also still has a couple of lodges in Houston like the Pokrok #88 on Bell Street that offers polka dancing every Saturday night.
“It’s just great exercise and it’s fun,” said John Rivard, editor of Texas Polka News. Rivard and his wife Marlys have been dancing since 1990 and have visited 357 dance halls in Texas and at least one in each of the 50 states. And while the pair can beat a rug to everything form Cajun to Western Swing, they prefer polka music. Why?
“Polka dancing is like aerobics with beer!” Rivard exclaimed. And that’s a hard combo to beat.
Texas Dance hall Preservation
Visit the Texas Dance Hall Preservation Inc.’s website at www.texasdancehall.org for a list of Texas dance halls as well as events and dances going on at the historic dance halls.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
