Cherry Spring: Cherry Springs Dance Hall

On October 9, 1955, a newspaper ad promised a young singer named Clovis Presley. However, the misprint fooled nobody for long. That night, Elvis played Cherry Springs Dance Hall, 16 miles northwest of Fredericksburg on US 87. Johnny Cash shared the bill. The Louisiana Hayride tour had rolled into a Gillespie County cattle stop. Within a year, he’d be the most famous man in America.

The hall’s founder had a stranger story than any singer. Apaches kidnapped Herman Lehmann in 1870, when he was about 10. Later, he rode with the Comanches, and Quanah Parker adopted him. Eventually, Lehmann came home to German Texas. Around 1889, he opened a rest stop for cowboys driving cattle north to Kansas.

Hank, Patsy, and the Hayride

That rest stop grew into Cherry Springs Dance Hall. By midcentury, it drew the biggest names in country music. Hank Williams and Patsy Cline reportedly played there. So did Ernest Tubb, Buck Owens, Bob Wills, and George Jones. Later, Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel added their names to the list.

The room matched the music. Custom cedar tables surrounded a wooden dance floor. Meanwhile, wagon-wheel chandeliers hung from the ceiling. And a hand-carved cypress bar anchored the whole place like the keel of a ship. Behind the building, an outdoor rodeo arena kept the cattle-drive spirit alive.

But upkeep slipped through a series of owners. Eventually, by 2015, the hall sat largely abandoned. The last owner died in 2022, and the doors stayed shut. Today, a rusted tin roof covers a splintered floor. A neighbor told Texas Highways, “It used to be so beautiful.” The property has since gone up for sale.

The Handbook of Texas tells its full history. The hall is private property, so view it from the highway. Then drive back to Luckenbach for a live song. Cherry Springs reminds every Texas dance hall what’s at stake. Elvis played here once. Now only the wind does.