article_snippet.sent: Some 40 miles north of San Antonio, along a lonely two-lane road, stands a bedraggled, tin-sided building that hints at Texas past.
article_snippet.sent: Kendalia Halle was built more than 100 years ago by German immigrants, who through the latter half of the 19th century comprised more than 5 percent of Texas's population, according to the Texas State Historical Commission.
article_snippet.sent: The culture has shifted away from rural areas where most of only two traditional Texas dance halls are, but what we see is that these cultures are foundational to what Texans are and what Texas is,' said Sparks'.
article_snippet.sent: and that's something that really defines our culture here in Texas,'
article_snippet.sent: The popularity of these halls waned as Texas population shifted to the cities.
article_snippet.sent: In 1900, 83 percent of the Texas population lived in rural areas; 50 years later that percentage had fallen to 37 percent, and continues to decline.