Mineralite Drive-In
250 K. Street,
Hawthorne,
NV
89415
250 K. Street,
Hawthorne,
NV
89415
1 person
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350 cars.
Odd name!! Why was it called Mineralite?
The drive-in was located inside the grid of the town, at 250 K St, Hawthorne, NV 89415. Here is an aerial photo from 1974 which vaguely shows the footprint of the drive-in.
http://flic.kr/p/92KhaA
The projection building is in the center of the lot, and the screen is facing due south.
If I recall correctly, the Drive-In was without the 1-mile square footprint of Hawthorne, roughly where the 200 block of K Street is now.
It looks like this was on the east side of Highway 359 south of town. It’s just south of Spanish Springs Road.
Here is part of an article from the Reno Evening Gazette dated 8/30/57:
Theater Sale is Announced in Hawthorne
HAWTHORNE â€" Mrs. Elizabeth Bearden, owner of the Cactus and Desert theaters in Hawthorne, recently purchased the Mineralite Drive-In Theater and the lease on the Babbitt Theater and will assume active management of these two theaters on Sept 1.
The sale was made by Charles Leonard who has operated the Babbitt theater since 1949 and who constructed the Mineralite Drive-In, Hawthorne’s only drive-in theater, in 1953. Mrs. Bearden has announced that her Desert theater will be closed on Sept 1 and that the Babbitt theater, which has been closed during the summer months, will re-open on Sunday, Sept 1.