The following photographs in the collections of the Library of Congress show dancers on the floor at Maher’s Dance Hall on North Main Street in Shenandoah. The images were captured by photographer Sheldon Dick on his journey to document the Coal Region during the Great Depression.

The Shenandoah Evening Herald described Maher’s Dance Hall in a 1969 article about the building’s sale to become a factory:

---

A Shenandoah landmark, the Maher property, North Main Street, has been sold to Vincent Madaffari, owner of the two Alma Dress factories in Shenandoah.

For a number of years, the building housed Maher’s Dance Hall which featured some of the top bands in the nation. The late Patrick Maher presented the nation’s top musical organization at weekly dances and was the promoter of the famous “Snow Dances” of the ‘20s and ‘30s.

The hall was also used as a skating rink and featured many ‘push-ball’ contents. At one time it was used as a basketball court for the county professional league and was the home court for Annunciation High School in the ‘30s.

At present, Madaffari is remodeling the ball room and is removing the balcony. This section of the property is used for the cutting department.”