Daytrippers: Historic Dance Halls
Programs
April 15, 2017 10:00am - 5:00pm
Take a trip outside the Museum's walls in these fun and educational excursions.
Join Stephen Dean — author and co-founder of the non-profit organization Texas Dance Hall Preservation — on a trip off the beaten path for a tour of several historic dance halls. These boot-scootin' ballrooms are a product of the Central Texas' German, Czech and Polish heritage.
Tickets are $50 for members and $65 for non-members. Admission includes transportation, lunch and tours of historic dance halls. Chartered bus will depart from the museum at 10:00 a.m. and return by 5:00 p.m.
Please note: Tickets for Daytrippers are currently sold out. Call (512) 936-4651 to be added to our waitlist.
"Texas dance halls are iconic structures that have played a prominent role in the state’s culture from its earliest stages. They became central institutions in the earliest European settlements and provided these immigrant communities with a common, central space in which to build new ways of life in a new land. The settlement patterns of the mostly German, Czech, Polish, and other central European migrants of this period gave East Central Texas the state’s greatest concentration of dance halls. Thousands of these halls were built throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but at present, their numbers have dwindled considerably, and many are at risk." - Stephen Dean, Historic Dance Halls of East Central Texas
On this trip we will tour just a small sample of the nearly 30 dance halls in Fayette County just east of Austin. Stephen Dean will act as a guide at each stop, giving a history of the property, highlighting unique features and discussing the preservation and current use of each hall.
La Bahia Turn Verein cir. 1879, Washington county.
Airway Pavilion Hall (more recently referred to as Stone Cellar Dance Hall) and lunch at The Stone Cellar, located in Round Top since 1997
Round Top Schuetzen Verein cir. 1892, Fayette County
Fayetteville SPJST Lodge #1 cir. 1910, Fayette County
La Grange Fair Pavilion Hall cir. 1924, Fayette County
