Beginning in July 1938, area residents gathered here for the first Fort Griffin Fandangle after Albany High School drama teacher Robert Nail, Jr. wrote and directed a play about the settling of the Fort Griffin area and, with support from the local chamber of commerce, created a similar show. Nail depended on volunteers for every aspect of the production, including period costumes, livestock, elaborate sets, and a large cast. Music was central to the performance, and later original songs replaced traditional folk music; Alice Reynolds directed music and filled many other roles for 45 years as an important part of the production’s success. The acclaimed show became an annual event, paused during World War II, and resumed after Nail returned from military service. In 1964, performers helped inaugurate an amphitheatre in Palo Duro Canyon for the show “Texas,” and in 1965 the production moved from the stadium to the newly built Prairie Theatre. In 1967, the cast accepted an invitation to present a performance at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch. After Nail died suddenly in 1968, the Fort Griffin Fandangle continued, sustained over the years by thousands of Albany residents serving as writers, composers, lyricists, choreographers, designers, light and sound specialists, musicians, dancers, actors, and make-up artists, and it remains a people’s theatre telling the area’s pioneer story.