WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
STARLITE GARDENS DANCE PAVILION
Anderson Junction, Utah
LOCATION
37° 17' 2.57" North Latitude, 113° 18' 16.43" West Longitude37.2840° North Latitude, 113.3046° West Longitude
3,831 feet (1,166 meters) MSL
Just northeast of the junction of I-15 (Exit 27) and Highway 17.
DESCRIPTION
The bandstand was made of cement and shaped parabolically to reflect the sound out onto the dance floor(there was no electrical amplification).
HISTORY
The Starlite Gardens was one of five dance pavilions constructed in the 1930s or 1940s by veteran'sorganizations in the area. The others were the Purple Haze (Kingston Canyon), the Rainbow Gardens
(Cedar City), Cobble Crest (Kanarraville), and the Sunset pavilion (Richfield). Only the Starlite was in
Washington County.
For other dance venues in Washington County, click here.
Rulon Beatty had a windmill that produced good water. He started with a beer parlor, but then got the idea to
expand to an outdoor dance venue. His wife, Erma, opened a little kitchen and sold hamburgers, hot dogs,
and other such things.
The Glen-Ray Orchestra provided the music.
People came from all around to dance here. It was the hot place to go in the 1940s and 1950s. It tended to be
a younger crowd and there was often drinking by some of the kids. Sheriffs usually attended on Saturday nights
to see that things didn't get out of hand. There was a nearby gas station where police busted a bootleg whisky
operation.
Rulon & Erma decided to take a job in Montana and shut down their operation. On their way to that new job,
they died in a traffic accident on November 22, 1964. The dance hall never opened again and only ruins remain.
PHOTOS
 WCHS-01559 Dance Floor and Bandstand |
 WCHS-01562 Bandstand |
 WCHS-01561 Looking Northeast |
 WCHS-01560 Looking Northwest |
WCHS-04017 Photo of the Starlite Gardens Dance Pavilion looking northwest
REFERENCES
Rulen Beatty's place was the place to go for funArticle by Mike Slizewski, The Spectrum, April 29, 1981
Toquerville, Oasis in the Desert - A History of Toquerville and the Area
Compiled and written by Cherrie Gubler Naegle
See the information page.
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