Viking Outdoor Cinema
2012 Highway 29 N,
Anderson,
SC
29621
2012 Highway 29 N,
Anderson,
SC
29621
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Wilby-Kincey
Previous Names: Hi-Way 29 Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Hi-Way 29 Drive-In was the second drive-in to operated in Anderson, SC. It opened on August 2, 1948 with Robert Mitchum in “Pursued” along with a cartoon. It was operated by Wilby-Kincey Ct. and had a capacity for 372-cars. In April 1964 it was taken over by J.M. Pruitt who owned the Fox Drive-In in Anderson (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). The Hi-Way 29 Drive-In was closed on January 25, 1974.
It was reopened on April 15, 1974 and renamed Viking Outdoor Cinema. It closed in 1986, but the screen and projection booth remained until around 2010.
Contributed by
Lauren Grubb
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
I am not too sure if that was a projection booth.I have walked that lot a bit,Even took two one sheet frames from the old boxoffice,I thought the booth was part of the concession stand nearer the screen.The building shown in the picture was closer to the main road and certainly not centered of the screen.Seemed like a storage building to me.
I have pictures,maybe i can get Nick to put them on for me.
My photos were taken in 2005. I uploaded them now that we have the cool photo feature. I passed by in June 2011 and the site was still pretty much in the same condition as the 2005 photos as far as I could tell. 2012 Highway 29 N, Anderson, SC 29621 gets you very close to the theater. For some reason, spelling out “North” confuses Google.
So the old screen is there.Saw alot of movies on that screen if only for about 4 seconds passing by on the way to grandma’s house.Did get two great one-sheet frames there,but i am repeating myself.Lauren,did you ever get any of the White Horse Drive-in in Greenville.I have a few.
Looks like the screen is gone now…from street view looks like it came down around 2010.
The concessions building was leveled and hauled off around the middle of the ‘90s, mere days after a friend and I salvaged a curved-glass candy display case, a stack of popcorn boxes, and 40,000 unused tickets from it. We had no idea that anything was going to happen— we were just prowling through the ruins on a whim.
Boxoffice, April 20, 1964: “J. M. Pruitt, who operates the Fox Drive-In, Anderson, S.C., has taken over the operation of the Hi-Way 29 Drive-In in the same town from Wilby-Kincey Theatres”
I accidentally added another Cinema Treasures page of this theater so I apologized!
Anyway, the Hi-Way 29 Drive-In opened its gates on August 2, 1948 with Robert Mitchum in “Pursued” along with a cartoon. It was the second drive-in to open in Anderson.
The theater remained its Hi-Way 29 Drive-In name until January 25, 1974. After closure for a few months, the theater reopened as the Viking Outdoor Cinema on April 15, 1974, which in my opinion is a very unique name for a drive-in.
The Viking Outdoor Cinema closed for the final time in 1986, leaving the theater abandoned for decades to come. Surprisingly, despite the projection booth being demolished in mid-2005, the screen tower remains standing until early 2012. The screen tower and the former traces near the gas station was a favorite for residents across the area for a time.
Unfortunately, the Hickory Point gas station that was outside the theater’s site since the early 1990s was demolished in 2020 and a 7-Eleven was built both at the Hickory Point gas station and in the theater’s site. Only a few traces remain as well as its faded shape of the former drive-in.
It was the last operating drive-in in the city of Anderson, despite the other two, the Skyway and the Fox, closed earlier that same decade.
Grand opening ads posted.