22nd Avenue Drive-In
NW 22nd Avenue and 69th Street,
Miami,
FL
33147
NW 22nd Avenue and 69th Street,
Miami,
FL
33147
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: H.B. Meiselman Theatres
Previous Names: Liberty City Drive-In, Lib-City & 22nd Avenue Drive-In, Lib-City & Palm Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Liberty City Drive-In was opened on April 1, 1952 and operated by Leon Task. The Liberty City Drive-In catered for African-American patrons. On February 4, 1953 a fence was installed which divided the drive-in into two sections, and it was renamed Lib-City & 22nd Avenue Drive-In. The newly created 22nd Avenue Drive-In catered for a white audience. Each section of the theatre had a capacity for 350 cars, and there were also 350 seats for walk-in patrons in each section. On February 3, 1957 the white section (22nd Avenue Drive-In) was renamed Palm Drive-In and gained its own separate entrance.
By 1969 the Palm Drive-In had reverted back to its 22nd Avenue Drive-In name and was operated by H.B. Meiselman Theatres chain, but had gone over to catering for an African-American audience, together with the former Lib-City section which had been incorporated into a single screen.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
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.
This opened in 1949 as the Liberty City Drive-In. In 1953 it started advertising as the 22nd Avenue presumably to lure white audiences.
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.
Please add Liberty City Drive-In as an aka.
The site is now Poinciana Park Elementary School.
Is the only segregated drive-in theatre in the World?
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.”
storm damage
September 1st, 1964 storm damage Tue, Sep 1, 1964 – 34 · The Miami News (Miami, Florida) · Newspapers.com
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 opening Sun, Mar 30, 1952 – 16 · The Miami News (Miami, Florida) · Newspapers.com
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.