Texan Drive-In
5800 W. Highway 80,
Midland,
TX
79706
5800 W. Highway 80,
Midland,
TX
79706
1 person
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The Texan Drive-In was opened on March 18, 1948 with Larry Parks in “The Jolson Story”.. Today the screen tower is still visible across from the Big Sky Drive-In on W. Highway 80.
Contributed by
Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Was owned by Video Independent.
Above address does not map properly. Use 5800 West Highway 80. The screen is to the east of the open drive-in & west of Midland Powersports.
I believe the original location was about one mile east where All American Chevrolet is now located.
This was reopened for a little while as an independent theater then closed again and sold to a Lumber company
The Texan held its grand opening on Thursday, March 18, 1948, per an ad in the previous day’s Midland Reporter-Telegram. The opening program was “The Jolson Story.”
It was described as one mile west of Ranch House (which I can’t find) on the north side of Highway 80. That matches a drive-in shown on a 1963 aerial photo at present-day 4200 W Wall St.
Looking at that 1963 aerial, there are no other likely candidates for a drive-in on the north side of 80 between Midland and Odessa. In particular, whatever was later next to the Big Sky was an empty field in that 1963 aerial. A drive-in there was outlined in a 1975 topo map and was visible in a 1995 photo.
Closed on November 30th, 1986. Also not open for the 1983 season.
A closer address is 4120 W Wall St, Midland, TX.
A 1955 aerial shows a drive-in at that location. By 1963, the drive-in had been demolished.
Today, a Titan Factory Direct and La Quinta Inn sit on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
It seems that the Texan Drive-In moved at some point from its original location to winding up next to where the Big Sky Drive-In is today. A 1955 and 1963 aerials shows nothing but open fields where the Big Sky Drive-In would be located.
By 1974, a single screen drive-in is present where San Angelo’s RV is today. That drive-in was still intact in 1995, but had been demolished by 2004.