T-Bar Drive-In
1613 US-87,
Tahoka,
TX
79373
1613 US-87,
Tahoka,
TX
79373
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 6 comments
A closer address is 1613 US-87, Tahoka, TX.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it where the old entrance road use to be.
Today, the Tahoka Maintenance Facility sits on most of the property with a private residence that is located where the entrance was. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/yktntp9n
The T-Bar Drive-In opened on August 3, 1950 with “Angel and the Badman” with that name (its only name) by Wallace Theatres Circuit. The last advertised show was on Oct. 3, 1952 with “The Red Danube.” It may have operated without ads in 1953 and 1954. After that it’s referred to as the “old drive-in” (never a good sign). The old drive-in’s screen tower was destroyed on June 10, 1959 by tornadic winds.
US-87 N, Tahoka, TX 79373
The drive-in is located ¼ mile north of town on the east side of US-87.
Here is a 1954 aerial photo which shows the location of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS:
http://flic.kr/p/95e6GP
After reviewing aerial photos from 1967 for a five mile radius around Tahoka, my conclusion is that there were no other drive-ins built or operating after the T-Bar was destroyed in 1959. The T-Bar was not operational in the 1967 aerial photos.
With a different letter.
There was an F-Bar Drive-In in Tahoka listed in the 1963 IMPA.
A 1956 photo of the T Bar Drive In sign and marquee. Tahoka Texas.
And a photo here and here showing the aftermath of a tornado that destroyed the theater in 1959.