Fredericksburg Drive-In
3534 Fredericksburg Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78201
3534 Fredericksburg Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78201
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The first drive-in built in San Antonio. When it opened the back of the screen faced the road and it had a large mural of an actress painted on it. Later a clown replaced the actress and then an abstract painting replaced the clown. The Fredericksburg Drive-In had a long life lasting until 1982.
The site is now a shopping center and an apartment complex. The old roadside marquee is now used to list the shops in the shopping center. It had a 450 car capacity.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The original name, “The Drive-In”, for this theatre, was changed when The Alamo Drive-In opened a couple of years later to “Fredericksburg Rd. Drive-In.” At that time, it was the only drive-in right on the outskirts of San Antonio at the time, so they just named it with a basic name. This theatre also featured some X-rated movies around its end, along with the Lackland DI.
The “Fred. Road”, as it was usually called opened in 1940. This was before the advent of in car speakers. The lot had speakers under grates. One would park over the grate and the sound would come up through the floorboard! When the In Car Speaker made it’s debut in 1946, the Fred. Road was finally outfitted with this revolutionary development. The original manager of the Fred. Road lived on the property and stayed on the job until his death in the mid 70s! His wife stayed on as assistant manager, and lived on the property until her death a few years later.
Here is a 1948 ad from the San Antonio Light:
http://tinyurl.com/2mambr
Some photos and ads here:
http://tinyurl.com/ybgolxl
1955 Aerial View:
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