Turner Hall

Duane's take

Here's how the marker at Turner Hall tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Back in 1886, the Schulenburg Turnverein, a German gymnastic club, put up a building on the corner of Summit Street and Upton Avenue, the stretch that runs as U.S. Highway 90 today.

They hired a man named Henry Bohlman to build it, and build it he did. Turner Hall, they called it, and from the moment the sawdust settled, it became the primary community center for the town of Schulenburg. Now, you might think a gymnasium would be a narrow kind of place, all chalk and parallel bars, but Turner Hall had bigger ideas.

Theatrical performances graced that floor. Musical concerts filled those walls with sound. Social events brought neighbors together, and seasonal celebrations marked the turning of every year.

Decade after decade, the hall kept its doors open and its calendar full. Then 1936 rolls around, and the local American Legion post, McBride Post Number 143, obtained the hall. One year later, in 1937, they moved it, the whole structure, out to Wolters Park.

Some buildings, when you pick them up and set them somewhere new, lose whatever spirit they had. Not this one. Turner Hall has served the Schulenburg community for more than a century, and if the marker is any indication, it isn't done yet.

What the marker says

(American Legion McBride Post #143) This building was erected by the Schulenburg Turnverein, a German gymnastic club. Built in 1886 on the corner of Summit Street and Upton Avenue (presently U.S. Hwy. 90), Turner Hall, constructed by Henry Bohlman, was the primary community center. Through the years the hall was the site for theatrical performances, musical concerts, social events, and seasonal celebrations. The local American Legion post obtained the hall in 1936 and moved it to Wolters Park in 1937. Turner Hall continues to serve the Schulenburg community as it has for more than a century.