An estimated 1,000 dance halls that sprung up around Texas in the 1800s , knitting together German , Czech , Polish and other immigrant communities . From about 1870 into the 1920s , European immigrants in Texas built hundreds of these halls . They largely served as meeting places for agricultural groups , rifle clubs and mutual benefit societies . The first one was opened by a group called the American Legion on May 1, 1881 at the corner of Main Street and East Third Avenue ( now known as West 3rd ). Only two traditional Texas dance halls continue to operate on nearly a daily basis : Luckenbach Hall and Gruene Hall . Texas Dance Hall Preservation and other groups are working to preserve the state 's remaining dance halls . They are creating an inventory so that the most distinctive ones become candidates for the National Register of Historic Places .
An estimated 1,000 dance halls that sprung up around Texas in the 1800s , knitting together German , Czech , Polish and other immigrant communities . From about 1870 into the 1920s , European immigrants in Texas built hundreds of these halls . They largely served as meeting places for agricultural groups , rifle clubs and mutual benefit societies . About 400 such halls still stand — many unused and decaying . Only two traditional Texas dance halls continue to operate on nearly a daily basis : Luckenbach Hall and Gruene Hall . Texas Dance Hall Preservation and other groups are working to preserve the state 's remaining dance halls . They are creating an inventory so that the most distinctive ones become candidates for the National Register of Historic Places .