Airport Drive-In
State Road 17,
Sulligent,
AL
35586
State Road 17,
Sulligent,
AL
35586
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Same drive-in? Boxoffice, Aug. 1, 1953: “Construction of a new drive-in has been started on Highway 19 between Vernon and Sulligent. Owner is Richards Theatres of Fayette, who operates the Strand in Sulligent and the Lamar in Vernon. Person submitting the name selected for the drive-in will receive a $25 defense bond.”
This drive-in was located just north of Military Grove Rd. on Hwy. 17 (west side of Hwy). The first building you see is in the middle of the drive-in field.
No address, but here are its coordinates: 33.858496,-88.121338
The Twixt Theatre was a Drive-In located on State Road 17 between Sulligent and Vernon. After a county airport was built close by, the name was changed to Airport Drive-In. While Cobb Theatres did operate this Drive-in along with the Strand Theatre in beautiful downtown Sulligent; in the middle 60’s both were taken over by Harold Jones, a local businessman who had a deep love for films and theatres. Mr. Jones also re-opened the Lyric Theatre in Aberdeen MS. He operated the theatres until the middle 70’s when it was not economically feasible to operate small theatres in towns with a population around 3000.
As a child visiting grandparents in Sulligent during the summer, I can vividly recall a truck with a loudspeaker going around town announcing the latest horror movie to play at the drive-in that weekend. I did my best to get my grandfather to take me, but being in a small farming town, sunrise came early and bedtime came before the drive-in opened.
Both the drive-in and theatre were razed. I am not sure about the drive-in, but the theatre came down sometime in the late 90’s after spending time as a warehouse.