SunnyBrook Ballroom is one of the few remaining large dance halls of the pre-World War II era still in existence and still operating.
For its first three decades or so one of the big "name" dance bands played here every Saturday night, New Year's Eve, and sometimes during the week or on other holidays. Located just east of Pottstown, it attracted dancers from a 50-mile radius,and all the Main Line, who came to dance to -- or in some cases just to listen to and watch-- virtually all the top dance bands in the country.
It was during the Depression, in early 1931, that Ray Hartenstine Sr., later known as "the dean of the big band ballroom operators, decided to add a dance pavilion to the swimming pool and picnic grove he had built five years earlier on a portion of the old SunnyBrook Farm".
The size of the ballroom and its capacity to accommodate a large crowd also helped SunnyBrook attract the best bands. The attendance record, over 7300 people, was set in February 1942 by Glenn Miller during his last road trip before disbanding his orchestra to go into the U.S. Army Air Force in September.