Triad Drive-in

3100 Ellis Avenue,
Ashland, WI 54806

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Triad Drive-in

The Triad Drive-in was originally scheduled to open on Thursday, May 27th, 1954, but was postponed until the next night because of bad weather. The first movie to be shown there was a Western film called “The Lone Hand”, starring Joel McCrea, Barbara Hale, and Alex Nicol.

Operated by Frank J. Hahn Jr., the opening of the Triad Drive-In was a pretty big happening for the small city of Ashland. There were numerous articles and many advertisements taken out by local businesses congratulating the opening of the theatre.

The Triad Drive-In was built and operated by the same person who also owned The Royal Theater, and the Bay Theater. When the Triad Drive-In was built, there was a contest to name it. “The Triad”, meaning three, was chosen because the owner now had three theaters in Ashland.

The Triad Drive-In is remembered by many people who lived in Ashland at the time. Many people mention their memories of it, such as entering in the trunk of cars. Sometimes people took speakers, forgetting to put them back, and the speakers broke off or damaged the window of the car as they drove off.

The Triad Drive-In closed, after the screen was damaged by storms. The property later became a business called Tall Timbers, which sold lawn mowers, garden tractors, chain saws, etc. After Tall Timbers closed, the property then became a self-storage facility, called Triad Storage.

Contributed by Bill

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

math_nerd59
math_nerd59 on August 18, 2015 at 8:40 pm

My first date was at the Triad. Don’t remember what movie it was. They also had dusk to dawn before the start of the school year. Good times! ;)

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