A 1981 aerial shows only one screen. The entrance at that time was on the north side of the property. You can see the remnants of the old entrance road behind the north screen.
There is also a tower near the projection booth/concession stand with its own access road. It’s a relatively recent addition to the property.
The entrance road leads to a waste management center. You can still see the ramps and outline of the northern part of the drive-in. The marquee is also still in place.
Although the lot is still mostly empty with the outline and ramps of the drive-in remaining. That may not last long as a sign near where the old entrance was once located states “Future building site for Burton School District”.
The 51 Drive-In closed in 1993, not 1994. A tornado took out the screen in May of 1993.
According to TulsaTVMemories.com, the owner had passed away just a few months earlier. When the screen was destroyed, his widow decided not to rebuild the screen or sell the property despite getting several offers.
She closed it down and it remains closed. Despite what Google Maps says about being “temporarily closed”. I’d say any business that had been closed for 30 years and counting could safely be called “permanently closed”.
Using the 1962 aerial, I found a drive-in three miles east of Spearman which fits the description of the stories that MichaelKilgore has put in the comments about the Wagon Wheel Drive-In.
It is three miles east of Spearman.
There is a landing strip about ¼ mile to the east of the drive-in.
And you can see (barely) small train-tracks that run around the perimeter of the drive-in and the station at the back of the property.
I can’t get an exact address, but it is located to the east of 10850 FM759, Spearman, TX. Across Co Rd 28 on the south side of HWY 759.
By 1971, the drive-in had been totally demolished with only faint parch marks of the ramps and outline. That disappeared rather quickly and today there is no trace of the drive-in.
As for the drive-in at the 13020 County Road 24, Spearman, TX address. I’d submit it is the Corral Drive-In. Freshly built in 1962, but perhaps not ready to open, the drive-in was still intact in 1985, but had been demolished by 1991.
Looking at Google Maps, you’d never know a drive-in existed on the property. The grass air strip is gone and virtually all traces of the drive-in as well.
Today, there is a house that sits about where the screen was located. About the only remnant remaining is the foundation of the ticket booth/concession stand located at the end of the entrance road.
The concession stand/projection booth has been consumed by the trees in the latest Google Street View from May 2023. In fact, a May 2013 view from 40th Street shows little, if anything left of the structure.
Interestingly enough, the ticket booth survived until at least May 2013 on Google Street View. And perhaps 2018 when viewing the aerials. But it is gone now.
The drive-in sat on the SE corner of the intersection. The original entrance is gone thanks to the highway being expanded.
Today, you can still see parch marks from the ramps on the property. You can still see part of the foundation for the concession stand/projection booth. It partially sits under another building that was constructed on top.
A closer address is 5771 Provincial Trunk Hwy 9, Lockport, MB R1A 2R2, Canada.
This places it right on the property. You can clearly see the outline and some of the ramps from the drive-in.
It appears that this property became “Midway Homes” at least according to the sign that still stands on the property, but now it is empty and for sale.
A 1981 aerial shows the original Sage Drive-In demolished. There is no screen, no projection booth, nor any indication that it was ever expanded into a four-screen drive-in.
However, about a half-mile to the south of the original drive-in is a four-screen drive-in on the same side of the road. It’s address is approximately 1092 S 24th St W, Billings, Montana. Enterprise Avenue is where the entrance to the four-screen drive-in was located.
It’s pretty clear that the Sage 4 was a NEW drive-in. The original Sage Drive-In was probably closed sometime in the 1970s.
As of October 2022, this property remains vacant with only the items I mentioned before remaining. There does appear to be a real estate sign on the gate, so the property may be for sale.
A July 2022 Google Street View shows a house in the middle of the western side of the property. It sits close to where the projection booth/concession stand had once stood.
A 1973 aerial shows the drive-in intact.
I can’t be sure if it was operational. There is a trail leading from the road straight to the projection booth/concession stand. That’s normally a sign of a closed drive-in. But the ticket booth does straddle the trail.
A 1978 aerial shows the drive-in demolished.
A 1986 aerial shows the apartments occupying the northern half of the property, but you can still see part of the ramps on the southern half.
That section of the property remained undeveloped until at least 1998.
Nothing had been constructed on the property in a 1952 aerial. So it most likely didn’t open until 1953 at the earliest.
The 1957 aerial is most interesting as the projection booth seems to have been on the back of the lot. That is quite a throw for a projector, which is normally much closer to the screen.
The entrance/exit behind the screen is now obliterated as HWY92 was expanded over that part of the property. The entrance off Charlotte Street is also totally gone. I’m not sure which entrance was the main one since the details in the aerial aerial are difficult to see.
Today, there are only parch marks of a partial outline and the ramps. It remains an open field.
This puts it right on the property about where the entrance was located. Although the feature that appears to be a foundation doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the drive-in.
A 1980 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. By 1985, the property had been razed.
Today, the property is almost totally an open field with some trees. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A 1981 aerial shows only one screen. The entrance at that time was on the north side of the property. You can see the remnants of the old entrance road behind the north screen.
There is also a tower near the projection booth/concession stand with its own access road. It’s a relatively recent addition to the property.
A closer address is 1570 U.S. Rt. 66, Grants, NM.
The entrance road leads to a waste management center. You can still see the ramps and outline of the northern part of the drive-in. The marquee is also still in place.
https://tinyurl.com/39us6myj
A closer address is 2544 X Rd, Sabetha, KS.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
Today, the outline can barely be seen, but it does appear the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand still exists.
https://tinyurl.com/ytbpr78j
A closer address is 343 Starlite Dr, Henderson, KY.
Yes, I know that “Starlite Dr” didn’t exist when the drive-in did. But it is the entrance road and accurately indicates its location on Google Maps.
The property is now occupied by a few businesses and the fire department.
https://tinyurl.com/42t9644k
Although the lot is still mostly empty with the outline and ramps of the drive-in remaining. That may not last long as a sign near where the old entrance was once located states “Future building site for Burton School District”.
The 51 Drive-In closed in 1993, not 1994. A tornado took out the screen in May of 1993.
According to TulsaTVMemories.com, the owner had passed away just a few months earlier. When the screen was destroyed, his widow decided not to rebuild the screen or sell the property despite getting several offers.
She closed it down and it remains closed. Despite what Google Maps says about being “temporarily closed”. I’d say any business that had been closed for 30 years and counting could safely be called “permanently closed”.
A closer address is 13801 83, Ballinger, TX 76821.
This puts it near where the old entrance to the drive-in was present. Today, there is only faint parch marks of the outline and ramps remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/4be7yew6
Using the 1962 aerial, I found a drive-in three miles east of Spearman which fits the description of the stories that MichaelKilgore has put in the comments about the Wagon Wheel Drive-In.
It is three miles east of Spearman. There is a landing strip about ¼ mile to the east of the drive-in. And you can see (barely) small train-tracks that run around the perimeter of the drive-in and the station at the back of the property.
I can’t get an exact address, but it is located to the east of 10850 FM759, Spearman, TX. Across Co Rd 28 on the south side of HWY 759.
By 1971, the drive-in had been totally demolished with only faint parch marks of the ramps and outline. That disappeared rather quickly and today there is no trace of the drive-in.
As for the drive-in at the 13020 County Road 24, Spearman, TX address. I’d submit it is the Corral Drive-In. Freshly built in 1962, but perhaps not ready to open, the drive-in was still intact in 1985, but had been demolished by 1991.
Looking at Google Maps, you’d never know a drive-in existed on the property. The grass air strip is gone and virtually all traces of the drive-in as well.
Today, there is a house that sits about where the screen was located. About the only remnant remaining is the foundation of the ticket booth/concession stand located at the end of the entrance road.
The concession stand/projection booth has been consumed by the trees in the latest Google Street View from May 2023. In fact, a May 2013 view from 40th Street shows little, if anything left of the structure.
Interestingly enough, the ticket booth survived until at least May 2013 on Google Street View. And perhaps 2018 when viewing the aerials. But it is gone now.
The drive-in sat on the SE corner of the intersection. The original entrance is gone thanks to the highway being expanded.
Today, you can still see parch marks from the ramps on the property. You can still see part of the foundation for the concession stand/projection booth. It partially sits under another building that was constructed on top.
A closer address is 5771 Provincial Trunk Hwy 9, Lockport, MB R1A 2R2, Canada.
This places it right on the property. You can clearly see the outline and some of the ramps from the drive-in.
It appears that this property became “Midway Homes” at least according to the sign that still stands on the property, but now it is empty and for sale.
https://tinyurl.com/4t6hsrh9
A 1981 aerial shows the original Sage Drive-In demolished. There is no screen, no projection booth, nor any indication that it was ever expanded into a four-screen drive-in.
However, about a half-mile to the south of the original drive-in is a four-screen drive-in on the same side of the road. It’s address is approximately 1092 S 24th St W, Billings, Montana. Enterprise Avenue is where the entrance to the four-screen drive-in was located.
It’s pretty clear that the Sage 4 was a NEW drive-in. The original Sage Drive-In was probably closed sometime in the 1970s.
Looks like the parch marks are all gone now, no trace of the drive-in remaining.
As of October 2022, this property remains vacant with only the items I mentioned before remaining. There does appear to be a real estate sign on the gate, so the property may be for sale.
A July 2022 Google Street View shows a house in the middle of the western side of the property. It sits close to where the projection booth/concession stand had once stood.
Found it!
The address is 254 Gorham Hill Rd, Gorham, NH.
It was located west of Gorham on US-2, close to the town of Randolph. The drive-in is intact from 1955 to 1978. By 1986, it had been demolished.
Today, the eastern side of the property is residential, but the western side is still untouched. You can see the outline and faint hints of the ramps.
https://tinyurl.com/ybt62kkk
A 1973 aerial shows the drive-in intact. I can’t be sure if it was operational. There is a trail leading from the road straight to the projection booth/concession stand. That’s normally a sign of a closed drive-in. But the ticket booth does straddle the trail.
A 1978 aerial shows the drive-in demolished.
A 1986 aerial shows the apartments occupying the northern half of the property, but you can still see part of the ramps on the southern half. That section of the property remained undeveloped until at least 1998.
By 2007, all traces of the drive-in were gone.
The projection booth/concession stand still stands and just a hint of the ramps and outline are still present as well.
Nothing had been constructed on the property in a 1952 aerial. So it most likely didn’t open until 1953 at the earliest.
The 1957 aerial is most interesting as the projection booth seems to have been on the back of the lot. That is quite a throw for a projector, which is normally much closer to the screen.
The entrance/exit behind the screen is now obliterated as HWY92 was expanded over that part of the property. The entrance off Charlotte Street is also totally gone. I’m not sure which entrance was the main one since the details in the aerial aerial are difficult to see.
Today, there are only parch marks of a partial outline and the ramps. It remains an open field.
A closer address is 2120 US-92, Auburndale, FL.
This places it on the Walmart, although most of the drive-in sat on what is now the parking lot of the Walmart.
https://tinyurl.com/3t69p4zx
A closer address is 3594 S State Rd, Ionia, MI.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it on the property.
The ramps have faded considerably over the past few years. You can barely see the outline today.
https://tinyurl.com/2s4ebazh
An August 2023 Google Street View shows the screen is poor shape.
A closer address is 1110 S Main St, Petal, MS.
This puts it right on the property about where the entrance was located. Although the feature that appears to be a foundation doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the drive-in.
A 1980 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. By 1985, the property had been razed.
Today, the property is almost totally an open field with some trees. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
http://tinyurl.com/3w8kpdfv
Nothing left of the drive-in today. There is an entrance in the same location as the old drive-in entrance and that is about it.