4th Street Drive-In

7200 4th Street N,
St. Petersburg, FL 33702

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Florida State Theaters Inc.

Previous Names: Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

4th Street Drive-In

The Drive-In was St. Petersburg’s first drive-in and it opened with much fanfare on January 23, 1941, with Jack Benny in "Buck Benny Rides Again" being the first movie. It was operated by Florida State Theaters Inc.

By 1952 it had been renamed 4th Street Drive-In. It was closed on May 28, 1956 with “Carousel” and “New York Confidential”. The property has since been redeveloped and there is no trace of this theatre whatsoever.

Contributed by Andy

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on October 26, 2010 at 10:37 pm

Andy, it parked 400 cars and was owned by Flordia Theatres.

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on November 1, 2010 at 6:27 pm

That’s Florida State Theaters.

Need more info and photos.

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on November 20, 2011 at 1:03 am

Enjoy the new pictures…

Nick DiMaggio
Nick DiMaggio on November 21, 2011 at 7:04 pm

Thanx hispeed54! This is amazing. At first glance I thought this was the Hillsboro D/I in Tampa. The marquee, entrance layout, and screen tower are identical although the width on this screen looks to be just slightly less wide than the Hillsboro. The “Drive-In Theatre” neon target sign is also identical although the target design is more pronounced on this screen.

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on September 29, 2012 at 2:37 am

You are welcome Nick…I had to check myself, I thought maybe I uploaded the wrong pictures!! Same basic design.

Nick DiMaggio
Nick DiMaggio on July 31, 2013 at 5:20 am

Just did some checking and found the closing date was May 28, 1956. The ad states, “closed till further notice” although checking the time clock listings monthly through 1957 showed no futher ads. The last features shown were “Carousel” and “New York Confidential”

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on November 10, 2013 at 11:07 pm

Uploaded aerial from 1969.. It looks like the property sat empty for all long time before it was redeveloped.

jimmyj
jimmyj on December 14, 2013 at 3:10 pm

I recall in the late 1940s each car was issued a hand operated mosquite spray gun as the mosquitoes were very bad. As the cars exited the movie you gave back the “Mosquito Sprayer” at the ticket booth.

rivest266
rivest266 on October 9, 2017 at 5:23 pm

January 23rd full page ad:

Found on Newspapers.com

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