In comparing the ‘62 to the overhead Google Map and using the residences as reference, the structure extends to the south about the same distance, but not as much to the north.
I think they removed the projection booth (which I believe was on the north side) and then rebuilt the concession stand using the old foundation for both new buildings that sit on the property today.
Well, the first observation is that the entrance/exit roads are still present in the 1962 photo which provides for a better address.
The address is 2821 W 7th St, Clovis, NM. This lines up well with Google Maps.
Next, the 1958 topo map has the drive-in at the right location, but facing the wrong direction. And the drive-in takes up the entire property, not a fraction of it as in the topo map.
Finally, the building has the same general shape, but there are differences. Most notably in the 1962 photo on the north side that appears to be a projection booth or perhaps restrooms that are no longer there.
So, this isn’t exactly the same building.
They either renovated or removed it and then constructed a new building. My guess is they removed the projection booth on the north side, which explains the lack of slits in the front of the building that is still there. And then they renovated the remaining structure.
At some later point they added the taller building on the south side.
It certainly looks like two buildings that sit next to each other on the property, the larger one is perhaps a more recent addition.
The smaller building has the basic shape of a typical projection booth/concession stand. It may have been remodeled to remove the small projection ports that are typical of such a building.
One odd aspect is that the building does not face directly east/west. It sits at a slight angle.
The topo map which shows the drive-in looks ridiculously small on the property. If the outline it true, it couldn’t have held that many cars. I suspect it was considerably larger, but all the ramps had been removed by the 1983 aerial as the property became a trailer park.
The ticket booth was apparently on the SW corner of the property. It appears that the entrance was on Grand Avenue which is south of the drive-in.
The drive-in was still intact in 1962, though clearly closed. By 1964, it was demolished with only the ramps remaining. By 1972, all traces of the ramps were eliminated as well. Which is unusual given that no structure was built on the property. Looks like the area was plowed, but today it is just an open, empty field.
Wiped clean by the wrath of God for its sins apparently.
There does appear to be one screen tower footing left. As for the concession stand/projector booth, it either has been remodeled or torn down and rebuilt because it is not the same shape that it was when the drive-in was in operation. Nor does it have the familiar small windows designed just for the projectors.
A 2014 Google Street View shows the property to be fully mowed. And while the screen is still standing, the projection booth/concession stand is gone.
The marquee is also standing on Lawrenceville Road, but is not in the best condition. That is where the entrance road used to be. Today, it is covered in grass.
Only the foundation for the concession stand/projector booth and one ramp remains.
350 cars, huh?
Well, in comparing the aerials to the cars currently seen in the Google overhead, 200 seems more accurate. And the “room for expansion” means going up the hill that’s right behind the drive-in. But never let the truth get in the way of good advertising. ;)
A 1971 aerial shows the entrance road to the drive-in was on S Bryant Road, not W. Choctaw Street. There never was any direct access to W Choctaw Street which is also HWY 51.
However, since Google Maps cannot pinpoint the exact location of where the entrance intersected the road, I’m not going to suggest an address change.
Today, there is not trace of the entrance road or the ticket booth that was present in the 1971 aerial. But the general outline of the drive-in, traces of ramps, and the concession stand/projector booth are still standing.
A more accurate address, at least in terms of the entrance road, is 1417 NW 28th Ave, Camas, WA.
Admittedly, NW Logan Street is not bad, but this address is where the entrance road connected to NW 28th Street.
The drive-in first appears on a 1955 aerial. It also appears intact and operational in 1960 and 1970. By 1981, the screen and projection booth/concession stand were gone.
Today, the entire area is residential properties with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A possible candidate is at 3105 W Market Street, Johnson City, TN.
There is no “New Jonesboro Highway” listed on the topo maps that I can find, but it is on the highway (called “Andrew Johnson Highway”) that is between Johnson City and Jonesboro.
It’s also intact in a 1983 aerial and its projection booth/concession stand is on the back of the property near a couple of buildings and amid several trees.
A 1983 aerial shows the screen gone. By 1996 the property had been redeveloped. The projection booth/concession stand seems to have made it to 1996, but was gone by 2005.
An auto salvage yard sits across the highway. Normally, odd looking lines inside an auto salvage yard are hints that a drive-in might have been present. However, until 2005 that area was open and without any development.
Then this would be different since the loop was incorporated into the original design and then abandoned before the drive-in closed. Most likely because it fell out of use.
When I worked at the 11th Street Drive-In oh, so many years ago, the cars would be sitting on 11th street backed up for a half-mile or more. Needless to say, the police was not amused.
In the 1954 aerial, you can see a loop that extends north from the entrance road and back. By 1966, the loop had faded considerably and by 1981 it was basically gone.
I do not see any playground equipment or small train which was a common feature at drive-ins to entertain the kids. This appears to be an overflow area for cars waiting to enter the drive-in without having to sit on the highway.
But if anyone knows its true purpose, I hope it can be posted here. It is an unusual feature.
Looks like the foundation of the screen is still present. The concession stand/projector booth which is still present as of August 2021 is two stories tall.
A 1955 aerial shows the ramps, but no screen or projection booth/concession stand.
A 1968 aerial shows the same thing.
It’s difficult to believe that the screen and projection booth/concession stand would be built and removed along with their foundations while leaving the ramps intact.
There is the possibility of this being a “temporary drive-in”, where the screen and booth for the projector were only temporary in nature. But such drive-ins rarely have ramps.
I understand the concession stand/projection booth was removed years earlier. But a 2018 aerial shows the outline of the drive-in, the ramps, and entrance/exit roads. That has now all been removed.
The drive-in was still intact in 1971. By 1977, the screen was gone along with the fencing on either side.
A 1954 aerial shows the drive-in fully built a year before it officially opened.
The trees still have leaves that are dark (black ‘n white photo), so it could not have been taken later than mid-October of that year.
Lots of reasons why the drive-in did not go into operation until the following year, so I will not guess. But it is not all that unusual.
A more accurate address is 1 Cheetah Drive, Galena, KS.
Cheetah Drive was the old entrance to the drive-in. Today, there is nothing left of the drive-in save for the entrance road.
https://tinyurl.com/mupf85us
A 1980 aerial shows the drive-in intact and looking operational. By 1994, it had been demolished.
In comparing the ‘62 to the overhead Google Map and using the residences as reference, the structure extends to the south about the same distance, but not as much to the north.
I think they removed the projection booth (which I believe was on the north side) and then rebuilt the concession stand using the old foundation for both new buildings that sit on the property today.
Well, the first observation is that the entrance/exit roads are still present in the 1962 photo which provides for a better address.
The address is 2821 W 7th St, Clovis, NM. This lines up well with Google Maps.
Next, the 1958 topo map has the drive-in at the right location, but facing the wrong direction. And the drive-in takes up the entire property, not a fraction of it as in the topo map.
Finally, the building has the same general shape, but there are differences. Most notably in the 1962 photo on the north side that appears to be a projection booth or perhaps restrooms that are no longer there.
So, this isn’t exactly the same building.
They either renovated or removed it and then constructed a new building. My guess is they removed the projection booth on the north side, which explains the lack of slits in the front of the building that is still there. And then they renovated the remaining structure.
At some later point they added the taller building on the south side.
It certainly looks like two buildings that sit next to each other on the property, the larger one is perhaps a more recent addition.
The smaller building has the basic shape of a typical projection booth/concession stand. It may have been remodeled to remove the small projection ports that are typical of such a building.
One odd aspect is that the building does not face directly east/west. It sits at a slight angle.
The topo map which shows the drive-in looks ridiculously small on the property. If the outline it true, it couldn’t have held that many cars. I suspect it was considerably larger, but all the ramps had been removed by the 1983 aerial as the property became a trailer park.
The ticket booth was apparently on the SW corner of the property. It appears that the entrance was on Grand Avenue which is south of the drive-in.
The drive-in was still intact in 1962, though clearly closed. By 1964, it was demolished with only the ramps remaining. By 1972, all traces of the ramps were eliminated as well. Which is unusual given that no structure was built on the property. Looks like the area was plowed, but today it is just an open, empty field.
Wiped clean by the wrath of God for its sins apparently.
There does appear to be one screen tower footing left. As for the concession stand/projector booth, it either has been remodeled or torn down and rebuilt because it is not the same shape that it was when the drive-in was in operation. Nor does it have the familiar small windows designed just for the projectors.
It certainly looks like the old projection booth/concession stand is still standing.
Looks like I-5 took out a chunk of the property, about where the entrance road and ticket booth down to the screen were located.
A 2014 Google Street View shows the property to be fully mowed. And while the screen is still standing, the projection booth/concession stand is gone.
The marquee is also standing on Lawrenceville Road, but is not in the best condition. That is where the entrance road used to be. Today, it is covered in grass.
Only the foundation for the concession stand/projector booth and one ramp remains.
350 cars, huh?
Well, in comparing the aerials to the cars currently seen in the Google overhead, 200 seems more accurate. And the “room for expansion” means going up the hill that’s right behind the drive-in. But never let the truth get in the way of good advertising. ;)
A 1971 aerial shows the entrance road to the drive-in was on S Bryant Road, not W. Choctaw Street. There never was any direct access to W Choctaw Street which is also HWY 51.
However, since Google Maps cannot pinpoint the exact location of where the entrance intersected the road, I’m not going to suggest an address change.
Today, there is not trace of the entrance road or the ticket booth that was present in the 1971 aerial. But the general outline of the drive-in, traces of ramps, and the concession stand/projector booth are still standing.
A more accurate address, at least in terms of the entrance road, is 1417 NW 28th Ave, Camas, WA.
Admittedly, NW Logan Street is not bad, but this address is where the entrance road connected to NW 28th Street.
The drive-in first appears on a 1955 aerial. It also appears intact and operational in 1960 and 1970. By 1981, the screen and projection booth/concession stand were gone.
Today, the entire area is residential properties with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/2p95s3v5
A possible candidate is at 3105 W Market Street, Johnson City, TN.
There is no “New Jonesboro Highway” listed on the topo maps that I can find, but it is on the highway (called “Andrew Johnson Highway”) that is between Johnson City and Jonesboro.
It’s also intact in a 1983 aerial and its projection booth/concession stand is on the back of the property near a couple of buildings and amid several trees.
I believe this drive-in listed at “Tennessee 91 and Dave Buck Road” is NOT the Skyline Drive-In.
The photo ads for the Skyline Drive-In lists it on “New Jonesboro Highway”. Tennessee 91 was known as “Glantzdoff Highway” according to the topo maps.
I cannot say for sure where the drive-in was located, but it’s not the one on Tennessee 91.
A 1983 aerial shows the screen gone. By 1996 the property had been redeveloped. The projection booth/concession stand seems to have made it to 1996, but was gone by 2005.
An auto salvage yard sits across the highway. Normally, odd looking lines inside an auto salvage yard are hints that a drive-in might have been present. However, until 2005 that area was open and without any development.
Then this would be different since the loop was incorporated into the original design and then abandoned before the drive-in closed. Most likely because it fell out of use.
When I worked at the 11th Street Drive-In oh, so many years ago, the cars would be sitting on 11th street backed up for a half-mile or more. Needless to say, the police was not amused.
In the 1954 aerial, you can see a loop that extends north from the entrance road and back. By 1966, the loop had faded considerably and by 1981 it was basically gone.
I do not see any playground equipment or small train which was a common feature at drive-ins to entertain the kids. This appears to be an overflow area for cars waiting to enter the drive-in without having to sit on the highway.
But if anyone knows its true purpose, I hope it can be posted here. It is an unusual feature.
Looks like the foundation of the screen is still present. The concession stand/projector booth which is still present as of August 2021 is two stories tall.
The drive-in sat behind the auto paint and body shop, but also behind the two properties just to the east as well.
The entire area is overgrown with trees. The screen sat just to the east of the large pond which sits well behind the auto paint and body shop.
Sometime between 2012 and 2019 the screen was removed.
Was this drive-in ever completed?
A 1955 aerial shows the ramps, but no screen or projection booth/concession stand.
A 1968 aerial shows the same thing.
It’s difficult to believe that the screen and projection booth/concession stand would be built and removed along with their foundations while leaving the ramps intact.
There is the possibility of this being a “temporary drive-in”, where the screen and booth for the projector were only temporary in nature. But such drive-ins rarely have ramps.
Sometime between 2009 and 2012 the screen near the road was taken down.
I understand the concession stand/projection booth was removed years earlier. But a 2018 aerial shows the outline of the drive-in, the ramps, and entrance/exit roads. That has now all been removed.
The drive-in was still intact in 1971. By 1977, the screen was gone along with the fencing on either side.