One of the nice things about a distanced dance hall tour was the ability to add extra stops. Since everyone traveled in their own vehicles, they had the ability to wave good-bye when they had their fill. We don’t fill up very fast, so we were thrilled to add Ammannsville to our list of dance halls visited. Ammannsville KJT, at 7745 Mensik Rd, La Grange, is a huge building. It is a member operated hall, under the umbrella of the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. The building is the congregations community hall. KJT, or Katolicka Jednota Texaska, translates to Catholic Union of Texas. The church is one of the painted churches in the area.
This hall usually hosts an annual picnic on Father’s Day. I’m not sure if that happened this year or not, with COVID playing havoc with annual plans. The hall was named after the town’s first settler, Andrew Ammann. German and Czech immigrants settled here in the 1870’s. The town’s post office opened in 1879 and operated until 1906. St. John the Baptist Catholic church and a school both opened in 1890. The church was rebuilt twice, once after the hurricane of 1909, and then a fire. Today the town consists of the hall, the church, a cotton gin and a few residences.
Original advertising is still on the wall.
The floor was very nice.
The room was set up for dining, rather than dancing.
The kitchen.
Ceiling fans and high ceilings help with air circulation.
Taking a turn on the floor.
The additional seating area outside.
The bbq pit in the background.
A vote was taken, and our group walked down the street to view St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. It’s one of the painted churches in the area.
Due to COVID, the church had shortened its hours, so we weren’t able to walk inside. A phone camera up against the window gave me this view.
And this view of the balcony area.
It was dark when we walked back. Some of the grave markers were lit. We didn’t venture down that way. We still had one more dance hall to visit!
Dancing Across Texas 