El Torreon Ballroom

Phil Baxter and His Texas Tommies lined up with their iron steeds in front of the newly opened El Torreon Ballroom. (Photo courtesy of Dr. James P. Hopkins. Click image for an enlarged version.)

The El Torreon sported a Spanish Mission motif with floating clouds and glittering stars on the ceiling accentuating the exotic atmosphere of a Spanish courtyard. A "crystal ball" with 100,000 mirrors illuminated a dance floor that could accommodate 2,000 dancers.

Phil Baxter and His El Torreon Orchestra were the house band from 1927 until 1933. Baxter's composition "El Torreon" opened and closed each evening's festivities. KMBC broadcast live from the El Torreon nightly at 11:00.

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, Andy Kirk, and Clarence Love's band were regularly at the El Torreon. An extended engagement by Cab Calloway with the Alabamians proved to be so popular with Kansas City dancers that the managers of the Pla-Mor Ballroom were compelled to bring in Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy to compete with Calloway at the El Torreon.

In 1936, the El Torreon was converted to the Avalon Supper Club. During the 1960s it served as a roller rink, reclaiming the name El Torreon. During the early 1970s the El Torreon became Cowtown Ballroom, a rock and roll palace which featured the likes of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Van Morrison, Hot Tuna and John Mayall. The building still stands as a testament to the glory days of ballrooms.

Gualt, Lon A. Ballroom Echoes. NP: Andrew Corbet Press, 1989.

Kirk, Andy. Twenty Years on Wheels. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1989.

The El Torreon ticket and the key to the "mystery trunk" are from the private collection of Dr. James P. Hopkins.

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