Orange Drive-In
291 N. State College Boulevard,
Orange,
CA
92667
291 N. State College Boulevard,
Orange,
CA
92667
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It took nearly seven years after the Pico Drive-In opened in Los Angeles in September of 1934 but the Orange County finally got its first Drive-In in June of 1941, less than six months before Pearl Harbor. I read that it was built on the site of the former Orange County Fair.
TIMELINE FOR ALL ORANGE COUNTY DRIVE-INS FROM JUNE 18, 1941 TO MARCH 31, 1997. (Based on Santa Ana and O.C. Register listings)
(1) Orange D.I.– June 18, 1941 to September 11, 1994.
(2) Cine-Car, Lincoln, Buena Park D.I.– May 16, 1949 to July 5, 1993.
(3) Paulo D.I.– July 1, 1949 to February 2, 1976.
(4) Highway 39 D.I.– June 29, 1955 to March 31, 1997.
(5) Anaheim D.I.– August 3, 1955 to March 25, 1990.
(6) Harbor Blvd D.I.– June 29, 1960 to December 24, 1986.
(7) Warner D.I.– June 29, 1961 to October 7, 1984.
(8) La Habra D.I.– July 3, 1962 to September 10, 1989.
(9) Mission D.I.– November 00, 1966 to September 9, 1985.
(10) Fountain Valley D.I.– July 12, 1967 to October 7, 1984.
(11) Stadium D.I.– May 27, 1970 to September 12, 1996
Photo of the Orange Drive-In.
View link
1983 Photo
Was mentioned in the documentary “Drive-In Movie Memories” in 2001.
For an old pic: View link
Scroll down to Thursday March 27
In 1960, the drive-in also hosted church services:
Dr. FRANK LAUBACH, famed international Christian missionary, will be speaking in person in Southern California this Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in the Orange Church on the Santa Ana Freeway, 2 miles below Disneyland. Norman Vincent Peale has described Dr. Laubach as “one of the 10 greatest persons alive in the world today.” The Orange Church meets in the Orange Drive-In Theater where even the handicapped, hard of hearing, aged and infirm can see and hear the entire service without leaving their family car.
From socaldriveins.com:
View link
As you can see above, this was the first DI in Orange County and was operated by Pacific Theaters. It’s capacity was 798 cars.
Love the Orange Drive-in. Its screen boasted the biggest orange in Orange County! Now pretty much all of the oranges in OC are gone, including the Big O. Too bad.
I would pass by this drive-in on the way to the formal Anaheim Stadium.
When Pacific ran this Drive-In in 1969, the car capacity listing was 798.