Cherokee Drive-In
US-69 and OK-51,
Wagoner,
OK
74477
US-69 and OK-51,
Wagoner,
OK
74477
2 people
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A closer address is US-69 & OK-51, Wagoner, OK.
A grand opening poster in the photo section indicates the location of the drive-in was at the intersection. That makes sense given the large amount of traffic, particularly on HWY 69.
The exact location remains in doubt. A 1973 aerial shows no remnants of a drive-in nearby. A guess is that the property might have become the home of the Wagoner Hospital, which was fairly new in 1973 at least at that location.
https://tinyurl.com/2tn7ff2b
The Cherokee Drive-In opened its gates on April 1, 1953 with Jean Peters in “Anne of the Indies” with no extra short subjects. The Cherokee was first operated by town’s favorite Charles Ralls, who also operated the town’s Cosy, and was managed by Bill Dilbeck of Marlow, Oklahoma.
Only a bit of information serves as the Cherokee Drive-In’s marquee at the front featured a huge Indian (or Chief based on Oklahoma tribe), with the installations of RCA Sound Systems and a mammoth screen.
The Cherokee, operated by Charles Ralls, was mentioned in the May 16, 1960 issue of Boxoffice as one of three Oklahoma drive-ins whose screen towers “were destroyed and other damage sustained” by storms on May 4 & 5 that year.
Found it. The Drive-In appears on the 1974 aerial photograph located east of the town on HWY 251C. The location is the Hefner-Easley Airport which expanded to cover where the drive-in once stood. However, you can just barely make out the familiar “fan-shape” of the old Cherokee Drive-In. https://goo.gl/maps/thnVh