Andy is correct, this is how it looks today. It was owned by C. S. Dunn of Dunn Family Theatres. I doubt it had 320 seats, the building is not that big. It is still a separate building from the furniture store next door, but owned by the same person. The back, which contained the furnace and cooling fan was torn off several years ago. I understand that a portion of the balcony and the booth still exists. It has been used for several retail outlets over the past few years, but is currently vacant. This theatre closed in the sixties and the last movie that played was Day of the Triffids. The title stayed on the marquee until the marquee was removed. The man standing in the picture was Gene Blackman. I got some of the seats and put them in the Zebulon theatre in Cairo.
The Gibson was owned by C. S. Dunn of Dunn Family theatres. It closed in the sixties. The concession stand could be accessed from inside or outside. The heating and cooling system was in a separate building separated from the main theatre by an alleyway. After the theatre closed, it was turned into a furniture storage and the booth was used for storing mattresses. Cannot locate a picture of the Gibson when it was a theatre, but I remember it had a nice marquee.
The Dixie Drive In theatre was located on highway 90 in Chattahoochee on the eastern outskirts of the town. It was owned by C. S. Dunn of the Dunn Family theatres circuit. The drive in was surrounded by lands owned by Mr. Dunn. He also owned the downtown Gibson Theatre. He lived on top of a hill back of the drive in and you could look down and see his drive in from his farm. The drive in was no where close to the GA/FL border. He also raised cattle. When cinemascope came out in the fifties, he was in the process of remodeling his screen and went ahead and expanded it to accomadate cinemascope. In the late sixties, when drive in business was dimishing, he took down his screen and made a truck stop (Hwy 90 was a major truck route). He turned the concession stand into a truck stop resturant and made the old projection booth a showers for truck drivers. He then divided up his land east of the drive in into residential lots and sold them to people who worked in Tallahassee Fl. He then added a service center with gas pumps. When interstate 10 opened below Chattahoochee, it took the trucks off of Hwy 90. He then tore down the truck stop and sold the land for a large home. He always seemed to be one step ahead. Unfortunantely no pictures can be found of the Dixie Drive In. Mr. Dunn’s daughter is still around, but she has been unable to come across any.
The last time I saw this drive in, the poles for the marquee were still standing and the concession projection building was still intact. Cows were grazing on the lot.
The drive in theatre in Hinesville on Hwy 84 was converted into Brice’s Cinema City, named after Pete Brice, the owner of Pal Amusement Company. The general manager of Pal Amusement was Barron Godby. The original drive in was split in half. The front half remained a drive in with speakers, etc, The back half became an indoor twin cinema, A large fence was erected between the last row of the drive in and the indoor parking lot. You used the orignial ticket office to attend the drive in and the indoor had its own ticket office. The same projection booth served the drive in and the indoor screens and the concession stand also served both. I had to pick up a print of Ghost at the indoor and when I went to pick it up, the drive in part was closed, even though the speakers remained on the poles and the projectors were still aimed at the screen. Only film was needed to get the drive in going again. This site is now a lowes home supply store, nothing remains of the drive in or indoor.
The Hiwa drive in was located on the Tallahassee Hwy in Thomasville, GA. It was the home office of Interstate Enterprises which was owned by Nat M. Williams and after his death it was turned over to his son, Nat Jr. along with many more theatres in the Interstate Enterprises chain. The offices were located in the screen tower and contained offices and a kitchen. On one side of the screen tower was storage for popcorn supplies that supplied all of his theatres. On the other side of the screen tower was a repair shop where all of the projection equipment was repaird by Runt Crawford. The theatre had a greenhouse and several rose gardens. It was beautifully landscaped. Nat Williams was also the head of the democratic party in Thomas County and when you qualifed to run for office, you had to qualify at the Hiwa drive in. It closed in the seventies. Part of the land was sold to a televison station for a tower and the remainder sold for a shopping center. Nat Williams lived in a subdivision, which he developed, behind the drive in. The shopping center is now vacant and abandoned, the Hiwa drive in got its revenge. May someday, a drive in theatre will get its revenge on a walmart.
This is not a picture of the Pelham Pike Drive in. It is located in old 19 going north out of Pelham, right past the farmers market. It has been overgrown for years and you have to push bushes aside to enter. The entrance still contains palm trees. The screen was blown down and the theatre closed. The ramps still remain as well as the brick concession building and projection booth. The box office remained for many years until finally vines brought it down. The steal foundation of the screen remains.
Moultrie is Colquitt County and Colquitt is in Miller County. The Hunter theatre is located in downtown Colquitt. This drive in was located on highway 27 south of Colquitt. The only remains is the boxoffice and you have to be looking for it. Out front there is a mailbox mounted on a tall pole with the words Airmail printed on it.
This drive in was owned by Kate (Dunn) Peters, sister to C. S. Dunn. She also owned the downtown Blakely theatre. I retrieved some old Montay speakers from this drive in and I believe these speakers were made by a company located in Cuthbert Georgia. I had never heard of them before. I also retrieve the benchs that were located in front of the concession building, rebuilt them and installed them in the Cairo Drive In.
A few years ago a couple came to me and asked me to tour a building they had bought. They bought property in Moultrie that was an office supply store and warehouse and they had discovered the warehouse appeared to have been a theatre. I went over and there was a large opening that had been cut in the wall between the office supply store and the warehouse. The building was stacked full of paper and office supplies. The floor was wood and had been placed over the original sloping floor. You could go down steps which led you to underneath the raised floor. The old orchestra pit was still there. A few more steps down led you to the basement, which was full of black water. The state was still intact. All of the lobby, restroom and stairs in front had been demolished, expcept for the box office. Another stairway had been built from the main floor to the front of the Balcony. The balcony was still intact and included the projection booth, which still contained the amplifier. From the outside of this building you would have never guessed it was once a theatre. I don’t know what the seating capacity was, but I don’t think it held 500. I glad the couple restored the theatre. It would have been nice to have seen it back as a theatre, but in this day and time, there is little room for small one screen theatres. Moultrie has a 6plex in operation.
The Blakely theatre was owned by Kate (Dunn) Peters and was part of the Dunn Family Theatre Circuit. She also owned the Peters Drive In theatre in Blakely along with the Archie and Bennett Drive In in Abbeville, AL. She also owned a drug store next to the theatre. It was located across from the courthouse. The theatre never operated on Sunday night. Mrs. Peters felt she would get in trouble with the Baptist Church down the street. It never had a concession stand, but had a popcorn machine in the box office and a soda vending machine out front. The theatre used coal for heat and the screen was covered with coal dust. It used motiongraph projectors. In its later years, it ran mostly black explotation movies and was segarated until the end. The balcony had a sloping floor with pews, this is where black patrons sat. In its later years, she never used the marquee even though I brought her a comple set of letters. After the theatre closed, the marquee was removed because some of her neighbors thought it would fall down. She had a soda fountain in her drug store and she made the best chili dogs and ham sandwichs anywhere. Her son donated the theatre to a group who has renovated the theatre for performing arts (I hope they changed out the furnace).
The correct name spelling is Azalea. It was located on Highway 27 S (Tallahassee Fl highway) right outside of Bainbridge. A bypass was built (the Georgia Governor was a Bainbridge resident at the time) and this bypass went right next to the Azalea drive in on a incline, which put the drive in out of business. For years the screen (tower) was used as advertising for Pixie Shops. When driving along the by pass, you could look down over the drive in and see the speaker posts along with the concession/projection building – minus the roof. This location is now a Walmart (surprise) and no evidence of the drive in remains.
The drive in on the Dothan highway was built in the late seventies by Sidney Pink and a partner. It was unusual in that the speaker post were only about two foot tall, whereas most drive in speaker post were the four foot standart. It did not operate very long and it has been a few years since I went by it, but the last time I did, it was being used as a pasture.
Perry had a Graves Drive In theatre, part of which is still intact. Could this have been a rename of the Perry Drive in?
Andy is correct, this is how it looks today. It was owned by C. S. Dunn of Dunn Family Theatres. I doubt it had 320 seats, the building is not that big. It is still a separate building from the furniture store next door, but owned by the same person. The back, which contained the furnace and cooling fan was torn off several years ago. I understand that a portion of the balcony and the booth still exists. It has been used for several retail outlets over the past few years, but is currently vacant. This theatre closed in the sixties and the last movie that played was Day of the Triffids. The title stayed on the marquee until the marquee was removed. The man standing in the picture was Gene Blackman. I got some of the seats and put them in the Zebulon theatre in Cairo.
The Gibson was owned by C. S. Dunn of Dunn Family theatres. It closed in the sixties. The concession stand could be accessed from inside or outside. The heating and cooling system was in a separate building separated from the main theatre by an alleyway. After the theatre closed, it was turned into a furniture storage and the booth was used for storing mattresses. Cannot locate a picture of the Gibson when it was a theatre, but I remember it had a nice marquee.
The Dixie Drive In theatre was located on highway 90 in Chattahoochee on the eastern outskirts of the town. It was owned by C. S. Dunn of the Dunn Family theatres circuit. The drive in was surrounded by lands owned by Mr. Dunn. He also owned the downtown Gibson Theatre. He lived on top of a hill back of the drive in and you could look down and see his drive in from his farm. The drive in was no where close to the GA/FL border. He also raised cattle. When cinemascope came out in the fifties, he was in the process of remodeling his screen and went ahead and expanded it to accomadate cinemascope. In the late sixties, when drive in business was dimishing, he took down his screen and made a truck stop (Hwy 90 was a major truck route). He turned the concession stand into a truck stop resturant and made the old projection booth a showers for truck drivers. He then divided up his land east of the drive in into residential lots and sold them to people who worked in Tallahassee Fl. He then added a service center with gas pumps. When interstate 10 opened below Chattahoochee, it took the trucks off of Hwy 90. He then tore down the truck stop and sold the land for a large home. He always seemed to be one step ahead. Unfortunantely no pictures can be found of the Dixie Drive In. Mr. Dunn’s daughter is still around, but she has been unable to come across any.
The last time I saw this drive in, the poles for the marquee were still standing and the concession projection building was still intact. Cows were grazing on the lot.
The drive in theatre in Hinesville on Hwy 84 was converted into Brice’s Cinema City, named after Pete Brice, the owner of Pal Amusement Company. The general manager of Pal Amusement was Barron Godby. The original drive in was split in half. The front half remained a drive in with speakers, etc, The back half became an indoor twin cinema, A large fence was erected between the last row of the drive in and the indoor parking lot. You used the orignial ticket office to attend the drive in and the indoor had its own ticket office. The same projection booth served the drive in and the indoor screens and the concession stand also served both. I had to pick up a print of Ghost at the indoor and when I went to pick it up, the drive in part was closed, even though the speakers remained on the poles and the projectors were still aimed at the screen. Only film was needed to get the drive in going again. This site is now a lowes home supply store, nothing remains of the drive in or indoor.
The Hiwa drive in was located on the Tallahassee Hwy in Thomasville, GA. It was the home office of Interstate Enterprises which was owned by Nat M. Williams and after his death it was turned over to his son, Nat Jr. along with many more theatres in the Interstate Enterprises chain. The offices were located in the screen tower and contained offices and a kitchen. On one side of the screen tower was storage for popcorn supplies that supplied all of his theatres. On the other side of the screen tower was a repair shop where all of the projection equipment was repaird by Runt Crawford. The theatre had a greenhouse and several rose gardens. It was beautifully landscaped. Nat Williams was also the head of the democratic party in Thomas County and when you qualifed to run for office, you had to qualify at the Hiwa drive in. It closed in the seventies. Part of the land was sold to a televison station for a tower and the remainder sold for a shopping center. Nat Williams lived in a subdivision, which he developed, behind the drive in. The shopping center is now vacant and abandoned, the Hiwa drive in got its revenge. May someday, a drive in theatre will get its revenge on a walmart.
This is not a picture of the Pelham Pike Drive in. It is located in old 19 going north out of Pelham, right past the farmers market. It has been overgrown for years and you have to push bushes aside to enter. The entrance still contains palm trees. The screen was blown down and the theatre closed. The ramps still remain as well as the brick concession building and projection booth. The box office remained for many years until finally vines brought it down. The steal foundation of the screen remains.
Moultrie is Colquitt County and Colquitt is in Miller County. The Hunter theatre is located in downtown Colquitt. This drive in was located on highway 27 south of Colquitt. The only remains is the boxoffice and you have to be looking for it. Out front there is a mailbox mounted on a tall pole with the words Airmail printed on it.
This drive in was owned by Kate (Dunn) Peters, sister to C. S. Dunn. She also owned the downtown Blakely theatre. I retrieved some old Montay speakers from this drive in and I believe these speakers were made by a company located in Cuthbert Georgia. I had never heard of them before. I also retrieve the benchs that were located in front of the concession building, rebuilt them and installed them in the Cairo Drive In.
A few years ago a couple came to me and asked me to tour a building they had bought. They bought property in Moultrie that was an office supply store and warehouse and they had discovered the warehouse appeared to have been a theatre. I went over and there was a large opening that had been cut in the wall between the office supply store and the warehouse. The building was stacked full of paper and office supplies. The floor was wood and had been placed over the original sloping floor. You could go down steps which led you to underneath the raised floor. The old orchestra pit was still there. A few more steps down led you to the basement, which was full of black water. The state was still intact. All of the lobby, restroom and stairs in front had been demolished, expcept for the box office. Another stairway had been built from the main floor to the front of the Balcony. The balcony was still intact and included the projection booth, which still contained the amplifier. From the outside of this building you would have never guessed it was once a theatre. I don’t know what the seating capacity was, but I don’t think it held 500. I glad the couple restored the theatre. It would have been nice to have seen it back as a theatre, but in this day and time, there is little room for small one screen theatres. Moultrie has a 6plex in operation.
The Blakely theatre was owned by Kate (Dunn) Peters and was part of the Dunn Family Theatre Circuit. She also owned the Peters Drive In theatre in Blakely along with the Archie and Bennett Drive In in Abbeville, AL. She also owned a drug store next to the theatre. It was located across from the courthouse. The theatre never operated on Sunday night. Mrs. Peters felt she would get in trouble with the Baptist Church down the street. It never had a concession stand, but had a popcorn machine in the box office and a soda vending machine out front. The theatre used coal for heat and the screen was covered with coal dust. It used motiongraph projectors. In its later years, it ran mostly black explotation movies and was segarated until the end. The balcony had a sloping floor with pews, this is where black patrons sat. In its later years, she never used the marquee even though I brought her a comple set of letters. After the theatre closed, the marquee was removed because some of her neighbors thought it would fall down. She had a soda fountain in her drug store and she made the best chili dogs and ham sandwichs anywhere. Her son donated the theatre to a group who has renovated the theatre for performing arts (I hope they changed out the furnace).
The correct name spelling is Azalea. It was located on Highway 27 S (Tallahassee Fl highway) right outside of Bainbridge. A bypass was built (the Georgia Governor was a Bainbridge resident at the time) and this bypass went right next to the Azalea drive in on a incline, which put the drive in out of business. For years the screen (tower) was used as advertising for Pixie Shops. When driving along the by pass, you could look down over the drive in and see the speaker posts along with the concession/projection building – minus the roof. This location is now a Walmart (surprise) and no evidence of the drive in remains. The drive in on the Dothan highway was built in the late seventies by Sidney Pink and a partner. It was unusual in that the speaker post were only about two foot tall, whereas most drive in speaker post were the four foot standart. It did not operate very long and it has been a few years since I went by it, but the last time I did, it was being used as a pasture.