The Aragon Ballroom on Lick Pier in the Ocean Park district of Santa Monica, California, was a social-dance venue opened under the Aragon name in March 1942 by dance promoter Harry Schooler (born Harrison Augustus Schooler; 1918–2008).

History

The ballroom and the pier, named Lick Pier, was erected in 1922. The pier was situated at the foot of Navy Street adjoining the south side of the Pickering Pier. Lick Pier was, in 1922, almost entirely in Venice. It was 800 feet long and 225 feet wide. At the opening of Lick Pier and the Bon Ton Ballroom on Easter weekend 1922, the ballroom was 22,000 square feet, and the pier featured a Zip roller coaster, a Dodge'em, Caterpillar rides, and Captive Aeroplane rides. Development, costing $250,000, commenced in 1921 and was financed by Charles Jacob Lick (1882–1971), Austin Aloysius McFadden (1875–1960), and George William Leihy (1865–1940). Schooler, whose Swing Shift Dances had originally been held at the nearby Casino Gardens, signed a 10-year lease in 1942 for the old Ocean Park venue, which was said to have 1,500 electric lights and of floor space, from owner Charles Lick. Schooler renamed it the Aragon, then spent some $50,000 to refurbish it. By August 1943, the 25-year-old Schooler was earning $55 a week as a toolmaker at

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Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

during the graveyard shift, a job which he later claimed he retained to protect himself from the wartime draft. But the balance of his reported $250,000-a-year gross income came from his several roles as dance hall impresario, bandleader and promoter, which by August 1943 included seven nights a week at the Aragon Ballroom, Friday and Saturday nights with the Swing Shift Dances (12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m.) at the nearby Casino Gardens, monthly dances for

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, and ...

in Los Angeles and barn dancing in the Plantation Ballroom in

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. ''

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'' magazine reported in July 1944 that "cowboy outfits" such as

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and

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had been, and would continue to be, booked to play at the ballroom. The Aragon was later known as the hall where

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

and his

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

, the "Champagne Music Makers," parlayed a scheduled four-week engagement in spring 1951 into a ten-year stint and a noted

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show. Welk's orchestra played to crowds numbering as high as 7,000.

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, the manager of Los Angeles television station

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, offered Welk the opportunity to appear on television, and on May 11, 1951, the station began broadcasting a weekly show live from the Aragon featuring Welk's band. The show evolved into ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...

,'' broadcast each Saturday night on

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. Welk’s stint at the Aragon ended in 1955, when he moved ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' to a

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. The Aragon soon went into decline. In 1963 it was opened briefly for dancing by Ralph Morris, the promoter from The Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa. "The Beach Boys" opened, and "The Challengers" were the dance band. But "Surf music" did not produce the crowds it had in Balboa, and the Aragon was soon closed again. During 1965-66 it became a roller skating rink. A famous Roller Derby skater, Charlie "Specs" Saunders was the owner. Around 1967 it became the Cheetah Club where bands including The Doors and Pink Floyd played as well as The Nazz (an outfit that evolved into Alice Cooper not the band featuring Todd Rundgren). It was destroyed by fire on May 26, 1970."Pier Fire Destroys Aragon Ballroom," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 27, 1970.
Access to this link may require the use of a library card. A major sequence in the 1950 Warner Bros. film ''Young Man with a Horn'' featuring

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and

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

was set and filmed at the Aragon and remains the best filmic evidence of what the ballroom looked like in its heyday.

Notable performers

The Bon Ton Ballroom: 1922–1942 * 1922–1924: Harry Baisden and His Bon Ton Orchestra * 1924–1925: Ben Pollack and His Bon Ton Orchestra The Aragon Ballroom: 1942–1967 * 1944:

* 1944:

* 1951–1955:

Cheetah Club: 1967–1970 * 1969:

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References

External links

Lawrence Welk visiting the charred remains of the Aragon Ballroom, May 28, 1970 (photo).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragon Ballroom Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California Music venues in Los Angeles Ballrooms in the United States Defunct nightclubs in California Dance venues in the United States Former music venues in California Burned buildings and structures in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles Demolished buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures completed in 1922 Buildings and structures demolished in 1970 1922 establishments in California 1970 disestablishments in California