The River Road Club was located on the banks of the Minnesota River in Mendota. Dave Byrne found the ad below dating from 1945, but there is evidence of a River Road Club Orchestra in 1934.

Ad dated August 1, 1945 courtesy Dave Byrne

In 1951 Augie Garcia and drummer Jesse Lopez opened with a small jazz group playing a Shearing style. The band broke up a few months later, when the men were called into service. In 1954 the group returned but never sold very well as a jazz band. Their conversion to rock ‘n’ roll brought them considerable success. Read much more about Augie Garcia Here.

In 1955 there was a terrible accident at the club, when a car with six women inside plunged from the parking lot into the Minnesota River. One woman was rescued and the other five died.

The club burned in 1962.

The actual location of the club has been difficult to pinpoint. Dave Byrne has done research for an article he is writing:

The Minnesota River had major flooding in 1965 scouring the area under the bridge. Soon after that the Corps. of Engineers decided to reroute the main channel for better barge navigation. Since that happened, the map from 1955 is different from the map after 1966 because the channel moved. The road used before 1965 appears to be gone. I asked Fort Snelling Park rangers to locate the club. They pointed me to Picnic Island in the State Park.

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