In looking over the Google Street view and comparing that to the 1968 aerial along with the 1963 topo map, the maintenance station is still the best candidate for the location of the drive-in, IMHO.
A 200 car capacity drive-in (maybe). I think it is easier to believe that someone fudged the capacity numbers for whatever reason. 462 cars requires an area at least double the size of the maintenance shop.
And while topo maps are notorious for being out of date, they tend to accurate in terms of elevation changes. And we see that on the east side of Redwood Drive. If you use Google street view and go up 101, the highway was carved out between the hills. Nothing to me looks suitable for being the location of a drive-in along that stretch.
I don’t believe that anything on Third Street Southwest could be the location. Everything is private property and open, at least in 1951. 100 cars are going to leave their mark.
My guess is the property at the SE corner of what is now Old HWY 14 and Pennington Ave NW. In 1951, it had a series of odd structures that I cannot identify. Today, it’s an open field with lots of junk on it.
At least being next to the highway makes more sense than tucked away on Third Street SW.
There is a “West Park Avenue”, a street that runs north/south on the west side of the town. It’s about a mile west of the fairgrounds. However, there is no indication of a drive-in out that way from the 1951 aerial.
The area just to the west of the fairgrounds has a motel (which still exists today) and a considerably amount of private land mostly in its natural state. So, that doesn’t seem to be it either given the trees that are present.
You got me. I’m simply not seeing any area of land that fits the description of where a 100-car drive-in would be located west of the fairgrounds. At least nothing from the 1951 aerial. So, either the ads and description are wrong or it was totally demolished and rebuilt into something completely different.
Another possibility is it was a temporary drive-in when originally put in place. That would explain the lack of ramps and projection booth/concession stand in the 1951 aerial.
When that became a success, a permanent one was constructed and what we see in the aerial is the permanent screen, fencing, and ticket booth with the projection booth/concession stand yet to be constructed.
Agree with kennerado. That’s definitely a drive-in being constructed in the 1951 aerial.
By 1983, it had totally disappeared and nothing but farmland is present. I can just make out the crop marks of the ramps and projection booth/concession stand, but that might be more my imagination than anything else.
As to the address, “Finklea, SC” seems to be just as accurate, if not more so compared to every other address I’ve tried.
“Intact” seems like a strong word to use. While the screens are still up, the buildings are in shambles. It would take some major renovating to get this property back into shape assuming someone wanted to re-open the drive-in.
I believe I’ve found the Corral Drive-In, but I cannot be 100% sure.
It sat west of town on the south side of US-180 at approximately 3005 W Walker Street, Breckenridge, TX. The entrance is now a parking lot that sits between the Regency Inn and Ernie’s Spanish Kitchen.
The drive-in appears in a 1954 aerial photo, but by 1960 it had been demolished. The area appears to have been landscaped with a small business that sat on the SE corner of where the drive-in once stood, but that has now been demolished.
There is no trace of the drive-in remaining. If someone can confirm the Corral Drive-in closing before 1960, then this is probably it.
I could not get an exact address on Google Maps. So, the closest location I could get was US-180 and O'Neal Drive, Breckenridge, TX.
The drive-in sat about ¼ mile east of the intersection on the north side of US-180. The drive-in appears brand new in a 1954 aerial (as you might expect) and still intact in a 1983 aerial. By 1995, it had been demolished.
Today, you can still see the ramps and foundations for the screen. There is a structure that resembles a ticket booth, but it’s not in the right place so I cannot say for certain that it is the ticket booth.
A closer address is 2014 US-83 Business, Mission, TX.
This puts it right where the old entrance road used to be. The drive-in was still intact in 1995, although it does appear to be closed. By 2002, it had been replaced mostly by a residential neighborhood. While several businesses occupy the area around the entrance.
A closer address is 309 Fort Crook Rd S, Bellevue, NE.
A 1952 aerial shows what appears to be a racing track. A 1955 aerial shows the drive-in. By 1969, a trailer park occupies the area around the entrance to the drive-in with the concession stand/projection booth intact, so this fits the description provided in the header.
Today, the Gateway Park Apartments occupy the area around the entrance with Beyond Dispensing Pharmacy sitting on what was the drive-in. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
For a drive-in that was supposedly destroyed in 1957, it looks pretty intact and well-maintained in a 1981 aerial photo. This does not mean that the drive-in remained open after 1957, but the screen does appear intact along with the projection booth/concession stand.
A 480 car capacity seems pretty excessive given the size of the drive-in. More like 250 cars at most.
If the drive-in was located adjacent to the golf course, then it was completely demolished with no trace by 1985.
Sitting just to the west of the golf course is what appears to be a quarter-horse racing track or something similar. That area is large enough to hold 75 vehicles, so that is a possible location. It may also explain why no trace of the drive-in remains.
The Plaza 3 was clipped by a tornado on December 5th, 1975. It was an unusual tornado not only because it happened during the winter, but also because the sky behind it cleared. So, as the tornado was tearing up the neighborhood just to the north of the Plaza 3, the sun was shining on it.
I agree with Michael Kilgore that the address he mentions seems like the only candidate to hold a drive-in anywhere near the town.
The 1951 and 1963 topo maps indicate that at least part of that land had buildings on it. Perhaps the same buildings that are on the south side of the maintenance area today.
There are also three buildings indicated on the north side and a trail that cuts across the river (a ford) which can be seen in the 1968 photo. That reduces the area to hold a drive-in considerably.
Now, consider a 500 car capacity drive-in for a town and surrounding communities within a 20 mile radius that doesn’t add up to 5,000 residents today? That seems incredibly excessive.
Plus, the entire maintenance area doesn’t appear to be able to hold more than 200 cars at best, even if you remove the buildings.
Something is off. If this location did have a drive-in, it would have to be 200 car capacity or less given how little land seems available. And, I’m not sure what other location exists anywhere near the town that could hold more.
A closer address is 681 Rockingham Road, Bellows Falls, VT.
The entrance of the drive-in is where the Northstar Self-Storage is located. A smaller business sits where the screen was located. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Today, the property is owned by Cooperative Propane. The area itself is mostly empty with a few large and many small propane tanks on the lot.
The land itself appears to have been plowed or resurfaced sometime between 1967 and 1981, so the ramps are gone. The drive-in does retain its basic shape and there are remnants of the entrance and exit roads. Also, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand is still present in the overhead view of Google Maps.
Overgrown with trees is right. The only remnant visible is what’s left of the entrance road and an old, rather sad mailbox that probably hasn’t been used in a long, long time.
In looking over the Google Street view and comparing that to the 1968 aerial along with the 1963 topo map, the maintenance station is still the best candidate for the location of the drive-in, IMHO.
A 200 car capacity drive-in (maybe). I think it is easier to believe that someone fudged the capacity numbers for whatever reason. 462 cars requires an area at least double the size of the maintenance shop.
And while topo maps are notorious for being out of date, they tend to accurate in terms of elevation changes. And we see that on the east side of Redwood Drive. If you use Google street view and go up 101, the highway was carved out between the hills. Nothing to me looks suitable for being the location of a drive-in along that stretch.
I agree.
I don’t believe that anything on Third Street Southwest could be the location. Everything is private property and open, at least in 1951. 100 cars are going to leave their mark.
My guess is the property at the SE corner of what is now Old HWY 14 and Pennington Ave NW. In 1951, it had a series of odd structures that I cannot identify. Today, it’s an open field with lots of junk on it.
At least being next to the highway makes more sense than tucked away on Third Street SW.
There is a “West Park Avenue”, a street that runs north/south on the west side of the town. It’s about a mile west of the fairgrounds. However, there is no indication of a drive-in out that way from the 1951 aerial.
The area just to the west of the fairgrounds has a motel (which still exists today) and a considerably amount of private land mostly in its natural state. So, that doesn’t seem to be it either given the trees that are present.
You got me. I’m simply not seeing any area of land that fits the description of where a 100-car drive-in would be located west of the fairgrounds. At least nothing from the 1951 aerial. So, either the ads and description are wrong or it was totally demolished and rebuilt into something completely different.
Another possibility is it was a temporary drive-in when originally put in place. That would explain the lack of ramps and projection booth/concession stand in the 1951 aerial.
When that became a success, a permanent one was constructed and what we see in the aerial is the permanent screen, fencing, and ticket booth with the projection booth/concession stand yet to be constructed.
Agree with kennerado. That’s definitely a drive-in being constructed in the 1951 aerial.
By 1983, it had totally disappeared and nothing but farmland is present. I can just make out the crop marks of the ramps and projection booth/concession stand, but that might be more my imagination than anything else.
As to the address, “Finklea, SC” seems to be just as accurate, if not more so compared to every other address I’ve tried.
“Intact” seems like a strong word to use. While the screens are still up, the buildings are in shambles. It would take some major renovating to get this property back into shape assuming someone wanted to re-open the drive-in.
A 1956 aerial shows a drive-in in the same location what would be the 51 Twin Drive-In.
If the 51 Drive-In did not open until the late 1960s, then it seems reasonable that it and the Ellis Drive-In are the same.
All traces of both screens and ramps are gone. A shopping center has been put over the site.
I believe I’ve found the Corral Drive-In, but I cannot be 100% sure.
It sat west of town on the south side of US-180 at approximately 3005 W Walker Street, Breckenridge, TX. The entrance is now a parking lot that sits between the Regency Inn and Ernie’s Spanish Kitchen.
The drive-in appears in a 1954 aerial photo, but by 1960 it had been demolished. The area appears to have been landscaped with a small business that sat on the SE corner of where the drive-in once stood, but that has now been demolished.
There is no trace of the drive-in remaining. If someone can confirm the Corral Drive-in closing before 1960, then this is probably it.
https://tinyurl.com/2ystnsc4
Found It!
I could not get an exact address on Google Maps. So, the closest location I could get was US-180 and O'Neal Drive, Breckenridge, TX.
The drive-in sat about ¼ mile east of the intersection on the north side of US-180. The drive-in appears brand new in a 1954 aerial (as you might expect) and still intact in a 1983 aerial. By 1995, it had been demolished.
Today, you can still see the ramps and foundations for the screen. There is a structure that resembles a ticket booth, but it’s not in the right place so I cannot say for certain that it is the ticket booth.
https://tinyurl.com/56je34ss
Drive-in appears to have been totally demolished right after closing. A 2002 aerial photo shows the location as a car lot.
Today, it’s just an empty lot with no traces of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 2014 US-83 Business, Mission, TX.
This puts it right where the old entrance road used to be. The drive-in was still intact in 1995, although it does appear to be closed. By 2002, it had been replaced mostly by a residential neighborhood. While several businesses occupy the area around the entrance.
There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 309 Fort Crook Rd S, Bellevue, NE.
A 1952 aerial shows what appears to be a racing track. A 1955 aerial shows the drive-in. By 1969, a trailer park occupies the area around the entrance to the drive-in with the concession stand/projection booth intact, so this fits the description provided in the header.
Today, the Gateway Park Apartments occupy the area around the entrance with Beyond Dispensing Pharmacy sitting on what was the drive-in. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/wmdnh23b
Although the screen is still intact in a 1970 photo, the concession stand/projection booth appears to be gone with only the foundation remaining.
For a drive-in that was supposedly destroyed in 1957, it looks pretty intact and well-maintained in a 1981 aerial photo. This does not mean that the drive-in remained open after 1957, but the screen does appear intact along with the projection booth/concession stand.
A 480 car capacity seems pretty excessive given the size of the drive-in. More like 250 cars at most.
Sometime around 2014, Theater Road was redirected so that it aligns with the old entrance of the drive-in off of US-422.
A closer address is U.S. 422 & Theater Road, Kittanning, Pennsylvania, U.S.
The drive-in appears intact in a 1982 aerial photo, but was demolished by 1993.
https://tinyurl.com/4mf8695n
If the drive-in was located adjacent to the golf course, then it was completely demolished with no trace by 1985.
Sitting just to the west of the golf course is what appears to be a quarter-horse racing track or something similar. That area is large enough to hold 75 vehicles, so that is a possible location. It may also explain why no trace of the drive-in remains.
The Plaza 3 was clipped by a tornado on December 5th, 1975. It was an unusual tornado not only because it happened during the winter, but also because the sky behind it cleared. So, as the tornado was tearing up the neighborhood just to the north of the Plaza 3, the sun was shining on it.
It appears from the overhead view on Google Maps that the screen has been removed.
I agree with Michael Kilgore that the address he mentions seems like the only candidate to hold a drive-in anywhere near the town.
The 1951 and 1963 topo maps indicate that at least part of that land had buildings on it. Perhaps the same buildings that are on the south side of the maintenance area today.
There are also three buildings indicated on the north side and a trail that cuts across the river (a ford) which can be seen in the 1968 photo. That reduces the area to hold a drive-in considerably.
Now, consider a 500 car capacity drive-in for a town and surrounding communities within a 20 mile radius that doesn’t add up to 5,000 residents today? That seems incredibly excessive.
Plus, the entire maintenance area doesn’t appear to be able to hold more than 200 cars at best, even if you remove the buildings.
Something is off. If this location did have a drive-in, it would have to be 200 car capacity or less given how little land seems available. And, I’m not sure what other location exists anywhere near the town that could hold more.
A closer address is 681 Rockingham Road, Bellows Falls, VT.
The entrance of the drive-in is where the Northstar Self-Storage is located. A smaller business sits where the screen was located. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
So, the address needs to be changed to 31022 US-84, Opp, AL.
Today, the property is owned by Cooperative Propane. The area itself is mostly empty with a few large and many small propane tanks on the lot.
The land itself appears to have been plowed or resurfaced sometime between 1967 and 1981, so the ramps are gone. The drive-in does retain its basic shape and there are remnants of the entrance and exit roads. Also, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand is still present in the overhead view of Google Maps.
Overgrown with trees is right. The only remnant visible is what’s left of the entrance road and an old, rather sad mailbox that probably hasn’t been used in a long, long time.