well attended, and the hitching rail to the south of the building was often full of horses. There was no indoor plumbing at the time, so the dance hall's lavatory, attached to the back of the building, was a two-story outhouse. The dance hall was condemned by the state as a fire hazard having only one exit in the late 1920s. Bernard and Anna Zahler, who lived on the old Withrow farm, offered to build a new ballroom. They bought the empty grain elevator, had it dismantled, and used the lumber to build a new ballroom. Zahler's Withrow Ballroom was built on the site of the old blacksmith shop in 1928, and is the oldest ballroom in the state of Minnesota. The first dance was held on the Fourth of July. The band was a local group of musicians who were paid five dollars each. Admission was 25 cents, soft drinks were five cents, and near beer (a beverage that arose during Prohibition) was available to patrons. Identified as an historic landmark in May Township, the ballroom and hardwood dance floor are widely regarded as one of the best rooms for live music in the Twin Cities. The couple sold the ballroom to their son, Ed Zahler Sr., in 1946, after managing the place for nearly twenty years. Ed Zahler Sr. received a liquor license for the Withrow Ballroom in 1950. It was basically a BYOB license, so customers would bring their own bottles, but the bar would sell the mixers. Ed and Gertrude Zahler continued the tradition of polka dances, but during the late 1950s, musical tastes started to change. Rock and roll became more popular than the traditional polka music of the area's German immigrant farmers, and Ed began to introduce rock and roll music, playing rock records during intermissions. Ed Zahler Jr. purchased the ballroom from his father in 1974, adding large picture windows, food, and a kitchen, and made the venue available for weddings and catered events. After ownership by three generations of Zahlers, Marvin and Mary Jane Babcock purchased the ballroom from Ed Zahler Jr. in 1983, renaming it the "Withrow Ballroom", and turning it over to their son Mark and his future wife Lori in 1985. When Mark Babcock purchased the facility, the Withrow Ballroom was a white rectangular box in the middle of a corn field. At that time Washington County had more