Texas has a knack for transforming something historical into something larger than life, a phenomenon that extends to the state’s dive bars, some of them well off the beaten path. Riley’s Tavern in Hunter, Texas (with a New Braunfels address), about an hour northeast of San Antonio, is one of the state’s best examples of translating something time tested into something iconic. The Texas Hill Country dive bar’s stake to claim is Riley’s status as liquor license number one issued in Texas after the repeal of Prohibition, no small distinction.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018, the historical credibility runs deep, the building Riley’s Tavern inhabits built sometime in the mid-1800s. The space was converted into a saloon upon receiving liquor license number one in 1933 by the bar’s namesake, James Curtis Riley, though there are records that the location served as a saloon named Galloway Saloon well before the institution of Prohibition in 1920. Riley’s Tavern is even noteworthy enough to register a Wikipedia entry, one that cites one of the reasons for the dive bar’s early success as close proximity to both a rail line and dry county.
At the risk of digging a little too far into dive bar history, Riley’s is notable for never closing pre-World War II before curfews were instituted. Sadly, opening hours have been modernized, but a number of elements within Riley’s are still original, including the bar back and beer coolers behind the bar. Comal County, home to Riley’s Tavern, maintains an impressive deep dive into Riley’s history, including the revelation that the historic newspaper clippings seen lining the bar were found during renovations to the bar’s floors, previously used as insulation. The cup holders along the pool area and a wide selection of signs and bottles that dot the space also date back to the opening of the dive bar.