State Line Drive-In

UnknownCinemaDude on April 30, 2009 at 11:13 am

another 2009 photo as you can see this marquee. could use some work
View link

kencmcintyre on June 26, 2009 at 6:00 pm

I think Elizabethton is close to Zionville, just over the state line, as it were, so it’s an understandable error.

MichaelKilgore on November 19, 2017 at 11:25 am

Although the Stateline’s About Us page says it opened in 1947, it wasn’t listed in the 1949-50 Theatre Catalog. The 1952-56 editions listed owner Earl B. Bolling, capacity 250.

The 1952-66 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as R. D. Dunn, capacity 246. The 1978-84 editions listed R. (Ray) Glover, 200. The 1986-88 editions (finally?) sort of agreed with the old Catalogs, listing the owner as E. Bolling.

In an article about the history of the city’s indoor theater, the Elizabethton Star wrote that in 1962, Earl Bolling was the owner and operator of the Stateline Drive-In.

An archived 2009 Elizabethton Star article (PDF) wrote, “Now owned by Andy Wetsel (sic) Jr., the Stateline Drive-In was built in 1947. Wetsel purchased the theater from the late Earl Bolling, who owned it from 1952 until the 1970s, and again from 1980 to 1995.”

A 2000 article in American Profile talked to then-owner Andy Whetsel (sic). Andrew “Andy” Wetzel (as it’s spelled by every reference except the previous two) is still the owner as of March 2017.

A 2008 Topix discussion thread, which also included plenty of inflammatory talk of which I have no first-hand knowledge, said that Wetzel is married to the daughter of Bolling’s widow, which is how he acquired the Stateline.

50sSNIPES on May 31, 2020 at 6:10 am

Actually MichaelKilgore, It Did Listed On The September 1949 And A Few 1950 Ones According To The Elizabethton Star.

Denny Pine on November 30, 2024 at 8:50 pm

I just uploaded a grand opening ad. The State Line Drive-In opened on June 26, 1949 with “This Time For Keeps”, starring Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante