Lib-City & Palm Drive-In

NW 22nd Avenue and 69th Street,
Miami, FL 33147

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Liberty City Drive-In, Lib-City & 22nd Avenue Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

Lib-City & Palm Drive-In

The Lib-City & 22nd Avenue Drive-In was opened in April 1952. The Lib-City catered for colored patrons, while 22nd Avenue catered for a white audience. Each section of the theatre had a capacity for 350 cars, and there were 350 seats for walk-in patrons in each section. In February 1957 the white section (22nd Avenue Drive-In) was renamed Palm Drive-In.

Contributed by Al Alvarez

Recent comments (view all 14 comments)

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on March 21, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Thanks for the insight MayfairMan!

I recently visited Historical Museum of South Florida where they currently have an exhibit on the African Diaspora in Miami.

http://www.hmsf.org/

This type of info would have been a welcome addition. In my theatre research I also stumbled upon another Miami weirdness. The 1926 telephone book had a section for “Colored people”. This odd bit of segregation would surely have made it easier to find black friends and family.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on April 5, 2009 at 9:38 pm

This opened in 1949 as the Liberty City Drive-In. In 1953 it started advertising as the 22nd Avenue presumably to lure white audiences.

NYozoner
NYozoner on January 27, 2011 at 2:18 am

Here is a 1961 aerial photo of the drive-in, which shows the fence bisecting the drive-in through the middle of the lot.

Here is a 1969 higher resolution close-up photo.

You can see there were separate entrances and ticket offices for the east side and west side of the lot.

Both photos are courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 12, 2011 at 5:09 am

Please add Liberty City Drive-In as an aka.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 21, 2018 at 10:21 am

The site is now Poinciana Park Elementary School.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 11, 2019 at 8:33 am

Is the only segregated drive-in theatre in the World?

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on December 28, 2019 at 4:46 am

The Nov. 8, 1952 issue of Boxoffice ran an article about the Liberty Drive-In, which “was opened last April 1” by Leon Task. It included a photo of the huge walk-in area with 700 seats. “Local newspaper and civic officials joined in congratulating Task in providing the recreational center for the Negro population.”

rivest266
rivest266 on January 26, 2020 at 6:57 pm

The Liberty Drive-In opened on April 1st, 1952 and the segregation fence went up creating the 22nd Ave drive-in that opened on February 24th, 1953. Grand opening ad posted. Liberty City Drive-In openingLiberty City Drive-In opening Sun, Mar 30, 1952 – 16 · The Miami News (Miami, Florida) · Newspapers.com

rivest266
rivest266 on January 27, 2020 at 1:14 am

The white section, the 22nd Avenue drive-in became the Palm Drive-In on February 3rd, 1957. Another ad posted. “New Entrance to 22nd ave. Drive-In theatre”. Lib City continues to operate at this time.

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