Tin Hall Dance Hall

Location: Cypress, Texas

Tin Hall Dance Hall: Located twenty miles Northwest of Houston off of Highway 290 at 14800 Huffmeister Road in Cypress Texas, the Tin Hall Dance Hall is Harris County’s oldest honky tonk and has been hosting public events for 116 years, except for a brief period between 1986 and 1990 during which time the hall underwent a temporary change of ownership. The current owner, Fred Stockton, is the great grandson of one of the founding families and has been visiting the premises since he was only two weeks old.

The original building was constructed in 1878 in the town of Cypress. Soon after being completed, it was destroyed by a fire that was thought to have resulted from an unattended pot-bellied stove. A new building was constructed in 1890 out of corrugated tin with the financial support of the Cypress Gun and Rifle Club. In the 1890s, the hall also was used as a gathering place for local dairy farmers. A second story and 4,400 square foot dance floor were added in the 1920s, and today the total size is 24,000 square feet. Not only did the Hall house a still during Prohibition in the 1920s, but it also withstood the great hurricane of 1900 and, in fact, still serves as a designated hurricane shelter for Harris County. Currently, the Gun and Rifle Club still owns the building and leases it out as a dance hall.

            Throughout its history, the hall has featured a number of musicians, including Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Clyde Brewer, The Original River Road Boys, Pappy Selph, Bob Dunn, Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Price, Hank Thompson, Gene Watson, Don Williams, Earl Thomas Conley, Johnny Rodriquez, Hank Williams III, Pat Green, The Bellamy Brothers, Johnny Lee, David Allen Coe, B.J. Thomas, Ronnie Milsap, Percy Sledge, Roy Clark, Ray Price, Doug Kershaw, and Bobby Bare.

            Today the Tin Hall hosts weddings, receptions, reunions, and other private functions. The facility offers a number of amenities including catering, live music, a laser light show, horse drawn carriage rides, photography, and even a mechanical bull ride. Twice a year, on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, the doors also are open to the general public. Currently under construction is a five thousand seat outdoor amphitheater slated to open in 2008. Tin Hall can be contacted by phone; (713) 664-7450, or online at Tinhall.com.