1311 East 11th Street, Austin TX 78725 / 512-472-5477
Location: Austin, Texas
The Longbranch Inn. The Longbranch Inn is a small but popular bar and live music venue located at 1133 East 11th Street in Austin. The bar originally opened as Pike’s Place sometime between 1898 and 1900 and is listed in a 1935 Austin City Directory as the oldest standing tavern in the city. In 1948, the tavern changed hands and was renamed the East 11th Street Saloon. From 1950 to 1965, it was known as James’ Tavern. In 1965, the name changed for the last time to the Longbranch Inn. The current owner, Kevin Crutchfield, believes this name was chosen because of a bar called “The Longbranch” in the popular 1960s television show “Gunsmoke.” In the years before the Longbranch was taken over by its current owners, it was “a popular juke-joint for the locals” that occasionally had live blues music performances. Historically, the majority of the club’s patrons have been African American, although this is no longer the case following the recent change in ownership. Currently, the bar’s jukebox includes mostly rock-n-roll and popular “indie rock” selections intended for a younger, predominantly white audience.
The Longbranch’s location is part of what makes it important to Texas music. East 11th Street was one of the main strips for the Austin section of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” which flourished during the 1940s and 1950s. This circuit, a string of clubs and venues that stretched from Texas eastward into New Orleans, up through Mississippi and Tennessee, and on into Kansas City and Chicago, offered a “continuous opportunity for black musicians to play music in this country and eke out a living doing it.”
Though the Longbranch was never one of the main venues listed as part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” it did occasionally hold live blues performances during the circuit’s hey-day. In fact, 11th Street itself was lined with venues during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s that featured a variety of touring bands. In order to see some of the best-known performers on the “Chittlin’ Circuit,” Longbranch customers only had to walk across the street to the Victory Grill, a well known and still very active live music venue.
Sandy George
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