Samuell Boulevard Drive-In
4617 Samuell Boulevard,
Dallas,
TX
75228
4617 Samuell Boulevard,
Dallas,
TX
75228
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By 1955, this was known as the Samuell Boulevard Drive-In. It was located ½ mile east of Tenison Park in Dallas. Phone number was FAirdale 5123.
Contributed by
Billy Smith / Billy Holcomb / Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
O.K.
AKA:
THE EAST PIKE DRIVE-IN.
Bob, at what time was it called the East Pike?
This theatre was located at or near the site of Dallas Metro Care.
It was located where Oakdale Townhomes are located now, on the North side of Samuell Blvd.
SiliconSam, Chuck 1231 confirms Bob’s statement that this was originally the East Pike (see Casa View Drive-In page), so there needs to be an AKA added above the title, don’t you think?
From correlating views from HistoricalAerials.com from 1958 – 2004 with current GoogleMaps views, it seems the construction of R.L. Thornton Expressway, which also served as a new route for U.S. Hwy 80/67 through the area, doomed this drive-in by taking out a major chunk of its parking lot – can’t have a drive-in movie without a place for the cars.
This would’ve come to pass in the very early 1960’s, confirmed by the fact that, by the date of Don’s ubiquitous 1963 Dallas Drive-In listings, ads for the Samuell Boulevard Drive-In were no longer carried.
“Chuck 1231 confirms Bob’s statement that this was originally the East Pike (see Casa View Drive-In page), so there needs to be an AKA added above the title, don’t you think?” – I have now found evidence that refutes this claim, namely an announcement in a 1950 Dallas newspaper (link posted below). Samuell Blvd. itself was at one time referred to as the East Pike because it was the old route of US Hwy 67 into Dallas from the east. It’s possible Chuck’s source confuses the theatre with the road. Here’s the link. Scroll about a third of the way down the page until you see an article headlined “New Drive-In To Open Tuesday.”
http://bacougars66.com/index.php/dallas-at-the-drive-in
After carefully studying the Historical Aerials overhead shots from 1957 and 1958, noticing particularly the configuration of the screen tower and its positioning on the property, its “wings” (adjacent fences meant to shield patrons' eyes from ambient light) and the location of the boxoffice, I have concluded that the photo I posted of this theatre…ain’t it.
What theatre the one in the photo might be, I have no idea.
I agree Matt54, the pic is not right. I don’t remember the tall sign or the structure either. I do remember it being called the East Pike, but the official name was the Samuell Blvd.