Cactus Drive-In
9981 Dyer Street,
El Paso,
TX
79926
9981 Dyer Street,
El Paso,
TX
79926
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Andress High School is having our 50th school anniversary and we are looking for pictures of the drive-ins, Rocket or Cactus. Does anyone have any? Know of any web pages where I can find them?
According to the 1975 IMPA the Cactus Drive-In was open and operating as the Cactus so that puts it past the 1964 date mentioned above.
I lived near Dyer St. in the 60’s and 70’s and only recall one drive-in out in that end of Dyer. And it was the Rocket. Nearer to my house on Dyer was the Del Norte. And it was the one we visited the most of the drive-ins. Being military, we did spend more time on post at the cheaper theaters :)
I believe the Rocket and the Cactus may have been the same drive-in. I scoured the 1967 aerial photos for Dyer Street, which were a good resolution, and could clearly see the drive-in at 10405 Dyer St., but there was no 500 car drive-in at 9981 Dyer Street.
Both the Rocket and Cactus are listed as being 500 cars. The Rocket supposedly opened in 1965, so both should have been clearly visible in the 1967 aerial photos.
Unless someone can produce a newspaper ad which shows both drive-ins operating in the same year, these were probably the same drive-in, operating as the Cactus from 1952-1964, and then as the Rocket from 1965 to around 1980.
It would not be unusual for the IMPA or other theatre catalogs to contain misleading or inaccurate information. Can anyone vouch from first-hand experience that both drive-ins operated simultaneously from separate locations, or does the idea that these were two distinct drive-ins originate solely from information pulled from the almanacs and theatre catalogs?
Silicon, I sent a batch of other theatres and drive-ins for the El Paso area to a friend that lives in Texas to do some research on so that they can be enetered into the CT site.
Thanks Silicon, that was one that I overlooked. I submitted it today. It was located a little farther out at 10405 Dyer Ave. It is not an AKA though, they were two seperate drive-ins.
Does the book mention the Rocket Drive-In? The Rocket was on Dyer, a little further out than this one I believe, And I don’t recall the Cactus name at all. This could be an AKA….
The Rocket was way out in the boonies, but the city has grown a lot out that way since then.
Information for this theatre was obtained from the book “The Old Movie Theatres of Texas”.
The Cactus Drive-In is listed in the 1975 IMPA but not in the 1980 edition.