Skyland Drive-In
Poinsett Highway and Skyland Avenue,
Greenville,
SC
29617
Poinsett Highway and Skyland Avenue,
Greenville,
SC
29617
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The year of the grand opening date should be 1948, not 1949
Opened with “Cheyenne”.
My grandparents lived right across Poinsett Hwy. from the theatre, and we went the every weekend for many years. Spent a lot of time on the little playground that was in front of the screen.
Attended my first movie here, would’ve been in the late sixties. Can’t remember which movie.
This opened on October 1st, 1949. Grand opening ad in photo section.
Poinsett Hwy at Skyland Ave
Greenville, SC 29617
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The side street across Poinsett Hwy from the drive-in is named Skyland Ave.
One of my earliest and very exciting childhood memories was from the late 50’s. Our small, mill type (and humble) neighborhood was located off of Poinsett Highway. We lived right behind WundaWeave and the Skyland drive-in theater. We could go up the street and then cross Hillandale Drive to the back of the theater. But you had to go down a deep ditch (and believe me there were a few intriguing, winding paths there) and look through the trees to watch the screen, while hiding from the roving movie personnel. As a four year old in the summer time, usually in the dark, it didn’t get much more adventuresome than that. What fun and great memories! And sometimes we had an adult neighbor who would cram us in his car so we could actually go see and hear the movie while eating unhealthy snacks, drinking sodas and sharing popcorn!
You are correct. The Skyland was on Poinsett Highway, on the right hand side northbound, next to the WundaWeave Carpet mill.
Furman students were regulars. The school was just over the hill. Summertime triple features would run to the wee hours, sometimes until 2-3AM because of late starts due to Daylight Savings Time. Not uncommon for a bunch of guys to stop at Bo-Nats, get a couple of 6 packs, pay a dollar a carload (we also used the trunk) and sit on the ground and watch a Steve McQueen triple bill. A staple of these was always The Great Escape.
I remember the Skyland Drive-In, but I’m confused about a drive-in that was on Poinsett Highway (a ways up from the WLOS affiliate studio on that highway). My memory wants me to think that the Skyland was there, but the reference above says Buncombe Road. Can anyone help clear my memory?
Also Glad to see all the local response,How about some stories on the WHITE HORSE DRIVE-in in Greenville.
If you want more on the Carolina Theatre business get WilliamC.Cline’s book “STROKE OF FORTUNE” Mr.Cline was a film booker and writes about many theatres in both states.Pictures too.Empire Publishing.
Oops, I forgot to include my email address, Brook. I’d love to hear more about your father and the tapes he made for the Skyland Drive-In.
Brook,
I can’t believe it! The son of Lake Cely — I’m very glad to meet you, sir. I love the CDs of your father’s preshow and intermission spots. You can order them from the fine people at The Drive-In Exchange by clicking on the link below. The sound quality has been carefully restored, the CDs have been handsomely packaged. You’ll love them!
View link
There is a photo here of the grand opening in 1947:
http://www.americandrivein.com/states/sc.htm
Hi, I am Lake Celys son and would love to be able to get a copy of these recordings. If any one could help me find them that would be great. I will also search through the old photos I have and see if any of them are at the drive in.
As a long-time and very avid drive-in enthusiast, I fell in love with the Skyland Drive-In the first time I heard the Skyland Drive-In CDs which were sent to me by the gentleman who restored them.
Last summer I recorded four “preshow” CDs for the Pipestem Drive-In in West Virginia, playing 1950s rock n' roll with friendly snackbar plugs. I loved playing “Lake Cely” by providing recorded reshows for a real, living drive-in theater.
Sir, I would love to hear about any memories of your experiences as the manager of the Skyland Drive-In. The many drive-in enthusiasts who have come to love the Skyland Drive-In from those wonderful Lake Cely CDs would be delighted to learn more about what life was like at the Skyland.
Sadly, none of us can travel back in time and visit the Skyland. But with a bit of help from you, perhaps a little imagination will allow us to visit the Skyland … in our daydreams.
And by the way, do you have any photographs of the Skyland which could share with us? I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the web trying to find pictures of the Skyland Drive-In, but I haven’t had a bit of luck. Please, help up out! We’d love to see them.
In case you’re interested, my email is []. Hope to hear from you soon.
Bud
I was manager of the Skyland Drive-In for several years in the early 70’s. It was a great family style drive-in and yes, had a playground down front of the big screen, with the office in the building under the screen.
The CDs mentioned above were created from a set of old reel-to-reel tapes which were rescued from oblivion by a Greenville resident when she found them at a yard sale being held by the former owners of the Skyland.
Eventually the tapes, which were recorded by Greenville AM radio DJ Lake Cely for the Skyland Drive-In, were professionally restored and transferred to CDs. The CDs can now be purcahsed through a website called “The Drive-In Exchange”. They’re fantastic, a “must have” for all drive-in enthusiasts.
A fifth Lake Cely tape does exist, but its owner chose not to allow it to be sold commercially because of music copyright concerns (the rock songs on the tape).
Just think: what if we had ALL the tapes that Lake Cely recorded for the Skyland Drive-In EACH WEEK FOR FOUR YEARS! You do the math …
One company on the web has 4 CDs of intermission announcements (plus music that played in-between the announcements). Bought recently and they sound great. Seemed like this D/I had a playground and the concession stand was run by a “Mrs Douglas”.
Several of the “drive-in double features” DVDs from Something Weird Video have the original “intermission announcements” from this drive-in(playing over old film posters and drive-in ads). The man who did those announcements was a DJ named Elmer Snodgrass.