There seems to be some disagreement, at least with those writing the history of the drive-ins in San Angelo.
First off, there is an ad of the Jet Drive-In that lists the location as “Mertzon HWY” which is now Sherwood Way. Yet Elgin lists the Starlite in that location.
A 1953 aerial shows a drive-in at Mertzon HWY and another single screen drive-in at what today is W 25th and Stardust Street. A trailer park now sits partly on the old drive-in location, although the roads in the area have changed considerably.
Seems to me that the Jet was the single screen drive-in at “Mertzon highway at Arden Road”. While the Starlite was at W 25th and Stardust. The Starlite may have been taken out by HWY 87 or N Bryant Blvd which now runs through part of the property.
A twin drive-in appears a few blocks away at 900 W 29th where Freedom Mini-Storage now sits.
That is the location of the Jet Drive-In, which also opened around that time.
It seems that the Starlite Drive-In was located at the corner of
S Chadbourne St & Christoval Rd, San Angelo, TX. as indicated by an earlier post. The entrance and exit to the drive-in took up the entire corner, but that is now gone.
Today, a trailer park sits in that location with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The drive-in was located at 184 NH-108, Somersworth, NH. It was located on the west side of the highway. A 1951 aerial shows it was present, so it appears that the Route 16 and Stairway drive-ins were the same.
Today, the property is part of a Jeep dealership. You can still clearly see the ramps and outline.
After looking at a 1953 aerial, which was taken 11 years after the drive-in closed, I see no evidence at all that it existed around that intersection.
That doesn’t mean it never existed there, it just means that it could have been built over with housing or completely demolished and left as an open field.
If dansdriveintheater says that a faint outline exists, then a link to a Google map should be sufficient to see the right location.
The drive-in sat about ¼ mile west of the TX-114/Willard Road intersection on the north side of the highway. Today, there is no trace of it remaining save perhaps for a faint outline.
The closest address I could find is TX-70 and County Road 431, Spur, TX.
The drive-in was located about a mile north of Spur along the east side of TX-70 less than 500 feet from the County Road 431/TX-70 intersection.
A 1966 aerial shows the drive-in intact, but by 1996 it had been demolished. Today, only the foundation of the projector booth/concession stand remains.
I did find the remnants of a drive-in south of Matador on TX-70. It was fully intact and appears to be open in a 1966 aerial. However, by 1996 it was totally demolished. I could not establish an address anywhere close on Google Maps.
It certainly has the size to hold 200 cars. However, there was no structure on the site large enough to hold 500 people.
So, either this is a different drive-in or the indoor and outdoor theaters were separate.
A slightly closer address is 1180 E Dallas Rd, Grapevine, TX. This marks the spot where the old entrance road once connected on the south side of Dallas Road.
You can see the drive-in still intact in a 1970 aerial, but by 1979 it was totally demolished.
The property changed significantly as well. The old entrance is now long gone and several businesses now occupy the area. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 2181 US-183, Gonzales, TX 78629.
The address puts it right on the property about where the entrance road use to be.
Today, there is virtually nothing left of the drive-in. However, on the east side of the property you can just make out a hint of the final few ramps in the back.
The address is 4413 TX-359, Laredo, Texas. A 1964 aerial shows the drive-in intact.
Today, several businesses occupy the property. The entrance/exit road is now Abigail Dominguez Court. Otherwise, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Or, topo maps are notorious for not including everything. I don’t know how many times a topo map has either not shown a drive-in when it was there or shown it when the drive-in was long gone.
Bottom line, a topo map is simply not enough to go on by itself.
999 North Main Street, Cotulla, TX puts it virtually right on the remains of the drive-in.
The caption speaks for itself. The drive-in was built “near” Clute, but was never in Clute, TX.
As was common with many drive-ins, they were built outside the city limits. Today, the Surf Drive-In is defined as part of Freeport, TX as per Google Maps.
A closer address, at least for Google Maps, is 5101 E Saunders St, Laredo, TX.
The drive-in sat on the south side of HWY 59. Today, the property holds a couple of businesses and a housing edition with no trace of the drive-in remaining. One of the residential roads is named Fiesta Loop.
A closer address, at least for Google Maps, is 745 W 13th Ave
Zapata, TX.
The drive-in sat to the SW of Junior’s Drive-Inn and today is an open field across from the football stadium. You can just barely see the outline and the entrance road still exists.
It’s there.
The 1965 aerial shows a clearer outline. Go to NETRonline and type in the address or put in Haskell, TX and you can see it better.
There seems to be some disagreement, at least with those writing the history of the drive-ins in San Angelo.
First off, there is an ad of the Jet Drive-In that lists the location as “Mertzon HWY” which is now Sherwood Way. Yet Elgin lists the Starlite in that location.
A 1953 aerial shows a drive-in at Mertzon HWY and another single screen drive-in at what today is W 25th and Stardust Street. A trailer park now sits partly on the old drive-in location, although the roads in the area have changed considerably.
Seems to me that the Jet was the single screen drive-in at “Mertzon highway at Arden Road”. While the Starlite was at W 25th and Stardust. The Starlite may have been taken out by HWY 87 or N Bryant Blvd which now runs through part of the property.
A twin drive-in appears a few blocks away at 900 W 29th where Freedom Mini-Storage now sits.
Well, Rick Smith may be wrong.
That is the location of the Jet Drive-In, which also opened around that time.
It seems that the Starlite Drive-In was located at the corner of S Chadbourne St & Christoval Rd, San Angelo, TX. as indicated by an earlier post. The entrance and exit to the drive-in took up the entire corner, but that is now gone.
Today, a trailer park sits in that location with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y4kpbwun
Both the screen and ticket booth are still up. The projection booth/concession stand has been torn down
Found It!
The drive-in was located at 184 NH-108, Somersworth, NH. It was located on the west side of the highway. A 1951 aerial shows it was present, so it appears that the Route 16 and Stairway drive-ins were the same.
Today, the property is part of a Jeep dealership. You can still clearly see the ramps and outline.
https://tinyurl.com/y696pqy8
After looking at a 1953 aerial, which was taken 11 years after the drive-in closed, I see no evidence at all that it existed around that intersection.
That doesn’t mean it never existed there, it just means that it could have been built over with housing or completely demolished and left as an open field.
If dansdriveintheater says that a faint outline exists, then a link to a Google map should be sufficient to see the right location.
The drive-in sat about ¼ mile west of the TX-114/Willard Road intersection on the north side of the highway. Today, there is no trace of it remaining save perhaps for a faint outline.
Found It!
The closest address I could find is TX-70 and County Road 431, Spur, TX.
The drive-in was located about a mile north of Spur along the east side of TX-70 less than 500 feet from the County Road 431/TX-70 intersection.
A 1966 aerial shows the drive-in intact, but by 1996 it had been demolished. Today, only the foundation of the projector booth/concession stand remains.
http://tinyurl.com/y344arv2
It appears that the projection booth is still standing.
The closest address I can get to the drive-in is US-67 & TX-137, Big Lake, TX.
The drive-in was located about ¼ mile west of the intersection on the north side of US-67. It is on the west side of the airport.
Today, what appears to be a city/county or highway maintenance yard is on the property.
There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y5e6foxh
A Google Maps street view from August, 2018 shows the concession stand/projector booth has been torn down.
I did find the remnants of a drive-in south of Matador on TX-70. It was fully intact and appears to be open in a 1966 aerial. However, by 1996 it was totally demolished. I could not establish an address anywhere close on Google Maps.
It certainly has the size to hold 200 cars. However, there was no structure on the site large enough to hold 500 people.
So, either this is a different drive-in or the indoor and outdoor theaters were separate.
The area that dansdriveintheater depicts does not show any evidence that a drive-in existed in that location.
A 1964 aerial, which was during the time the drive-in was in operation, shows only a house and a field.
A 1964 aerial shows no evidence of a drive-in west of Schulenburg that I can find.
There was a drive-in just east of Shulenburg at 1010 FM1579.
You can still see the faint hint of the outline and ramps today. I’m not saying that this is the Midway Drive-In, but I was able to find this one.
https://tinyurl.com/yyfzok2y
Found It!
The drive-in was located at 110 American Legion Rd, Smithville, TX.
Today, All Faith Funeral & Cremation Service sits at the entrance to the property. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y2pv5by6
Found It!
The address is 2908 U.S. 90, Hondo, TX.
You can still see the ramps in the back.
https://tinyurl.com/y3kcme73
A slightly closer address is 1180 E Dallas Rd, Grapevine, TX. This marks the spot where the old entrance road once connected on the south side of Dallas Road.
You can see the drive-in still intact in a 1970 aerial, but by 1979 it was totally demolished.
The property changed significantly as well. The old entrance is now long gone and several businesses now occupy the area. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y4dfhqeo
I believe I found it.
The address is 1917 North 1st Street, Haskell, TX.
A 1965 aerial shows a faint outline of a drive-in, so if this was it, the drive-in was totally demolished by that time.
Today, you can still barely see a faint outline of the drive-in.
https://tinyurl.com/yyugabqj
A closer address is 2181 US-183, Gonzales, TX 78629.
The address puts it right on the property about where the entrance road use to be.
Today, there is virtually nothing left of the drive-in. However, on the east side of the property you can just make out a hint of the final few ramps in the back.
https://tinyurl.com/y2hoglxy
Found It!
The address is 4413 TX-359, Laredo, Texas. A 1964 aerial shows the drive-in intact.
Today, several businesses occupy the property. The entrance/exit road is now Abigail Dominguez Court. Otherwise, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/yygmn7pj
Or, topo maps are notorious for not including everything. I don’t know how many times a topo map has either not shown a drive-in when it was there or shown it when the drive-in was long gone.
Bottom line, a topo map is simply not enough to go on by itself.
999 North Main Street, Cotulla, TX puts it virtually right on the remains of the drive-in.
https://tinyurl.com/y6es25h9
The address provided by jwmovies is too far to the west. Google Maps is often not good with exact addresses in rural areas.
A more accurate address is MO-5 and Lily Rd, Marceline, MO.
The drive-in sat on the SE corner of the intersection. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y5vmc97r
The caption speaks for itself. The drive-in was built “near” Clute, but was never in Clute, TX.
As was common with many drive-ins, they were built outside the city limits. Today, the Surf Drive-In is defined as part of Freeport, TX as per Google Maps.
A closer address, at least for Google Maps, is 5101 E Saunders St, Laredo, TX.
The drive-in sat on the south side of HWY 59. Today, the property holds a couple of businesses and a housing edition with no trace of the drive-in remaining. One of the residential roads is named Fiesta Loop.
https://tinyurl.com/y5c8gap5
A closer address, at least for Google Maps, is 745 W 13th Ave Zapata, TX.
The drive-in sat to the SW of Junior’s Drive-Inn and today is an open field across from the football stadium. You can just barely see the outline and the entrance road still exists.
https://tinyurl.com/y4anu78v