Lindenau Hall and Rifle Club: Visited August 10, 2019

Lindenau Dance hall and Rifle Club can be found at 22 Streidle Lane, Cuero, TX 77954. Phone: (361) 652-2752. Email: lindenauhall@yahoo.com for membership and rental information. This is what the hall looks like as you drive up.

This rifle club was established in 1901. The original hall was replaced with the current building in 1926. It’s available for rent for weddings and parties. We were lucky to find a rare public dance featuring Gary P. Nunn. Gary is on his farewell tour, and is trying to see how many dance halls he can play in before retiring. This was his (and our) first time here. De Foster and his girlfriend Melanie were ticket takers and organizers of the event. They are very friendly, organized people and we had a lovely time talking with them about the different dance halls we have visited and heard about Gary’s upcoming concert tour in London.

A little history found on line. “German farmers settled Lindenau in 1891, building a schoolhouse and community center two years later. In 1906, the town was moved to become the depot for the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad. The first Lindenau hall moved with the town but was eventually replaced with the Lindenau Rifle Club in 1901. Halls such as this served multiple community purposes and organizations. Local German-Texans organized St. John’s Lutheran Church in 1902 – originally meeting in the school house – and its present building was constructed in 1907. ” from Texas Independence Trail.

As you can see, there are several variations on the date of the hall. The flyer at the dance stated the “Original Hall was rebuilt to present one in 1926.” so I’m going with that version. The dance floor inside stated this date as well.

Photos of the dance floor we saw on line prior to our meeting cemented our desire to go. Large wooden dance floor, tables around the edges and a raised stage for the band. When we got there, we weren’t disappointed.

The original wood slat windows like so many other German halls, had been replaced with glass windows. With those open and fans circulating the air, it was a tolerable 90+ degrees on the dance floor. Frequent breaks outside where a nice breeze continued through the night was welcome. We changed shirts twice on this floor.

Lindenau has several annual fundraising events. The Spring Chicken BBQ the 2nd Sunday in March and the Lindenau Harvest Home Sale & Lindenau Stew the first full weekend in November. They sell water and soda. For those of you interested in going in November, the hall is equipped with heaters.

At the end of the dance, we caught up with Cal, the man you need to contact if you are interested in renting the hall. He told us a private rental would cost $500, a public event, like the one we were attending, would cost $600.

Lindenau does not have a TABC license so does not sell beer or other libations so it’s BYOB. They had a concession stand that sold water and soda.

Listening and dancing to Gary P. Nunn is always fun. Several friends came with us to this hall and we saw several more acquaintances during the dance. Erik McCowan organizer of Texas Dance Hall Road Trips, and his bride Laurie, and Gary McKee, editor of Texas Polka News were there. There were also several families, with many of the children dancing with each other or the adults in their group. Several of the younger girls were very good at spotting during their spins!

As the sun set the temperature dropped a bit and I took a photo of the sunset out the window.

As the dance ended, we said good bye to our friends and took one last photo of the hall in the dark.

Erik made a short video at Lindenau that night. Here’s his link.