81 Drive-In

6250 N. Broadway Street,
Wichita, KS 67219

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81 Drive-In exterior

Viewing: Photo | Street View

The 81 Drive-In opened in August of 1946. This drive-in is listed as the first drive-in theater in Wichita and possibly the first in Kansas. It was closed down sometime in the 1980’s.

Contributed by Lost Memory

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

missmelbatoast
missmelbatoast on December 16, 2006 at 7:33 pm

A brief history and vintage photos of the 81 Drive-In can be found on the below link;
View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 13, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Here is a better view of the 3/5/05 photo, which was taken in 1937:
http://tinyurl.com/2usojk

lostmemory
lostmemory on February 14, 2008 at 6:57 am

Its the same view. I would say that one photo is larger than the other. The Hurricane with Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall was released in November of 1937. It was re-released in the early 1950s. Thats probably when it was shown at this drive-in.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 14, 2008 at 7:04 am

Absolutely right. I failed to notice that the 81 opened in 1946. My mistake.

rbrtptrck
rbrtptrck on July 5, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Many, many wonderful stories and photos of Kansas theatres from Abilene to Yates Center can be found HERE<<<.
PLEASE copy this post and post it on every Kansas theatres page.
Thank you.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on April 19, 2011 at 7:59 pm

the 81 Drive-in hasn’t been mentioned on CT since 2008!It was owned by O.F.Sullivan and parked 600 cars.

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