Dancehalls in Calcasieu Parish

Blue Lake Club

From http://www.texasfreeway.com: “On the right side of the road as Texans exited the east end of the mile-long bridge stood…Mud Lake. Just past Mud Lake, on the left, stood…Blue Lake Club.” Possibly a black club. ...

Twin Oaks Tavern

Listed in “Readers recall clubs where they danced to Louisiana Music” from The Daily Advertiser, December 29, 1998: “Readers of The Daily Advertiser were asked to submit names of’ the clubs where they danced to Louisiana music in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, with a brief recollection of what the club was like and who played there.” Also known as Big Oaks or The Oaks ...

Circle Club

mentioned in Today’s Cajuns: From http://www.hechicero.com/louisiana/sundownplayboys.html: “Lionel Cormier died onstage June 5, 1971, at the Bamboo Club in Lake Charles. The occasion was the city’s annual Cajun Day, one of several events held each year to celebrate with hours of non-stop French music and hundreds of cases of beer. According to stories, Mr. Cormier’s band, the Sundown Playboys, were in the middle of La Derniere Valse (The Last Waltz) when his time came. Contrary to the sometimes-encountered belief, however, he had just finished pumping out the Church Point Two-Step when he had his heart attack.” (The Circle Club is) “an enormous aluminum building next to Interstate 10 at Toomey, La., near the Texas border. The dance hall’s partially burnt out neon sign gives the place an unintentionally French name, ‘le Club.'” Sundown Playboys played there every other Saturday night. Mentioned in Macon Fry’s” Cajun Country Guide” as a cock fighting club owned by Delane Navarre. An internet bulletin board mentions the club as hosting a pool tournament in the cock fighting area. ...

Silver Slipper

From http://library.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/SWLAMusicians/encyclosz.htm#stmary: ” The Silver Slipper was a club located on Highway 90 between Lake Charles and Sulphur in the 1950s.” ...

Crystal Grill

between Lake Charles & Sulphur- possibly owned by Quicy Davis- the Pine Grove Boys played there weekly in 1948: http://www.bopping.org/nathan-abshire-pope-of-cajun-accordion/ ...

Golden Rocket

Hackberry Ramblers played there: Listed in “Readers recall clubs where they danced to Louisiana Music” from The Daily Advertiser, December 29, 1998: “Readers of The Daily Advertiser were asked to submit names of’ the clubs where they danced to Louisiana music in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, with a brief recollection of what the club was like and who played there.” ...

High Bound Club

Mentioned In “Louisiana Fiddlers” by Ron Yule and Bill Burge: Club was south of town in the late 1930s. Country fiddler Ralph Richardson played there with his Uncle Lennie. ...