July 7, 2018
Our last dance hall of the day was Twin Sisters Dance hall 6720 US-281, Blanco, TX (Blanco county.) Twin Sisters has had a public dance once a month since 1879! Currently they are held the first Saturday of every month. The dance hall and community center along with a bowling alley were built in 1879. These buildings were named The Twin Sisters Hall and Bowling Alley. In 1967 the bowling alley burned to the ground in the 60’s and was later rebuilt in Spring Branch, Texas.
In 1918 the hall was sold to the hall membership for $5. It has been run by volunteers ever since. The original building started out as storage. A screened in porch for food was added in the 20’s or 30’s. Seating areas to the right (looking from the stage) were added in the 50’s or 60’s.
This old dance hall had just received a brand new roof a few weeks prior to our visit. During the replacement process, they found the original wood shingles under the metal roof! They also found a board with the year 1879 written on it, so they know the addition of the hall at that point was built at least by that date. Gruene Hall – you aren’t the oldest! You might be able to see the windows swing outward from the photo. No A/C but they had an air blower and a huge fan in service. We claimed the bench just in front of the air blower, but at the end of the beer line – so it was a good and bad location. The floor was great, with tables and benches around the perimeter. The VIP section was on the opposite side of the floor from us.
We prepaid for tickets to Gary P Nunn, and it was a good thing. Some people in line were hoping for a ticket at the door and had to wait until everyone with a ticket was admitted. Line up to get in was based on level of ticket purchase. We were general admission, but we got there early enough that we were one of the first GA’s admitted. We heard if the hall was filled, those in line could still buy a ticket, but they’d have to listen from outside. They did let us go in and out at this venue, so we left the extra shirts in the truck.
While waiting in line we talked with quite a few people. I asked them where they had danced or what they liked about different places. I did get a new name for my list! Most people were local, but one lady hoping for a door ticket came from Corpus Christi. I saw her inside later, so she did get in.
Gary Nunn was very gracious, taking time to talk with people during the band break. It was the first time he played at Twin Sisters, so the organizers were excited.
This was a great floor and wonderful people. I’d like to return sometime.
Dancing down to the coast, we stopped at Galvan Ballroom.
We visited here again March 16, 2019 with the Dance Hall Road Trip group.
We were met by the President of the 501C 3 non-profit, Jo Nell Haas, who told us the hall is run entirely by volunteers and has been since its inception! They have a velvet curtain in front of the stage, rolled up to the ceiling that is hand painted. Currently, they are raising funds to have the curtain restored. Fundraising is also ongoing to fix the ceiling from water damage. If you’d like to learn more, here’s the website link.
Here are some photos from the March visit.
Dancing Across Texas 