You wouldn’t expect an unassuming roadhouse in what was then a northern suburb of Austin to hold a place in country music legend. The Skyline Club, opened in 1946 at 11306 North Lamar — which was called the Dallas Highway at the time and located 2.5 miles north of city limits — played host to acts like Elvis Presley, Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills and Marty Robbins. But it’s most famous for being the last venue that both Hank Williams and Johnny Horton ever played.
Both men unknowingly gave their final performances at the Skyline before dying in their cars — Williams of heart failure in 1953 and Horton in a traffic accident in 1960. Even stranger, both men were married to the same woman when they died. Horton wed William’s widow Billie Jean Jones less than a year after Hank’s death.
After the Skyline Club closed in the early 70s, it had a second life as the Soap Creek Saloon, a prominent venue for Austin Outlaw Country artists like Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker. In the 80s, it became a popular place to catch rock and punk bands like The Meat Puppets. The building was demolished in 1989 and is now a CVS. Which is like the opposite of punk.
