Bonham Exchange, San Antonio

About Bonham Exchange

The building tells half the story. Architect James Wahrenberger raised this brick-and-limestone hall in 1891 for San Antonio's German Turn Verein athletic society, complete with a gymnasium, bowling alley, and grand ballroom, a block behind the Alamo. After later stints as a USO club and a postal station, downtown figure Arthur "Hap" Veltman took it over and opened the Bonham Exchange as a gay nightclub in July 1981, replacing his earlier club The San Antonio Country. Veltman died in 1988, and his partner Kenneth Garrett ran the club for the next three decades until his own death in 2019. It has stayed open under its longtime corporate ownership, with general manager Joan Duckworth — a 20-plus-year veteran of the club — now at the helm. It's a historic multi-level club, though as of 2026 it's running on the first floor only at reduced capacity while a fire-sprinkler system is installed throughout the building — the upper floors are due to reopen once that work is done, so it's worth checking what's open before you go. Themed nights and regular drag shows still pull a mix of gay regulars, students, and downtown visitors who come for the history and the scale of the room as much as the music. A San Antonio nightlife fixture for over four decades, the Bonham trades on its historic shell for a feel you won't get from the converted storefronts up on the Main Avenue strip. Worth the short walk from the River Walk if you want a big-room night near the heart of downtown.