Dancers swirl in Turner Hall, one of the last active dance halls in Texas. Photo by Phil Houseal
Details:
The Turner Club’s annual Pork Barbecue takes place this Sunday, March 5. The public can pick up a plate of pork, potato salad, beans, dessert, and bread for $7 - drive-through only.
The hall is available for rental. Membership is open to all. Turner Hall is located at 103 Travis Street. More information is available by calling 997-2204.
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Turner Hall:
One of the last active dance halls
by Phil Houseal
Mar 1, 2006
It was not that long ago that dance halls were the centers of local nightlife. Many folks reading this column can remember two-stepping at Twin Sisters, Pat’s (Seipp’s) Hall, Cherry Spring, Spring Creek, Grapetown and Cain City. Today, the last working version of the traditional Texas dance hall in Fredericksburg is Turner Hall.
Frances Hartmann, Treasurer of the Turner Club, remembers the glory days of dance halls.
“Saturdays and Sundays were for dancing and going to church,” she said, recalling the times she went as a child. “The whole family went, Opa and Oma, parents, and the kids. They always took the kids along. They had to - the grandparents danced too, so we had no babysitters!”
Lack of babysitting services proved not to be an issue.
“They had benches around the sides,” Hartmann recalled. “When I got a little sleepy, we had a quilt, and I would go to sleep under those benches. I can still close my eyes and see people’s feet dancing by.”
According to their written history, the Fredericksburg Social Turn Verein is one of Fredericksburg’s oldest organizations, going back to March, 1871. Turn Vereins originated in Germany for the purpose of promoting physical fitness and free citizenship. The concept came with immigrants to America and spread across the country. The local Turner Hall is a remnant of that movement.
The actual building, located on Travis Street across from the Middle School campus, was built in 1909, and includes a nine pin bowling alley, dance hall, domino and card room, and bar.
These days, no one is doing calisthenics in the hall, but the men still bowl on Wednesday nights. Hartmann recalls playing pinochle on Sundays, but no more (“You can’t play pinochle by yourself,” she observed.)
You can still join the Turner Club, and Hartmann hopes more people might consider doing so. It’s a bargain at $30 per year for family membership, or $15 for a single membership.
The Hall still serves its function of being a center for community events. Weekends mean wedding receptions and anniversary parties. The Fredericksburg Dance Club holds dances eight times a year. Popular bands also book the hall and play for part of the door.
These days the Turner Club hosts only two annual events: the New Year’s Eve dance and the Pork Barbecue, coming up this Sunday (see details below).
If you want to re-experience the magic of the bygone era of the dance hall, slip over to Turner Hall some evening. Order a Pearl, visit with the regulars, take your partner to the big hall and scoot counterclockwise on good hardwood (“We keep it oiled and waxed,” Hartmann noted).
And watch out for kids under benches.
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