Nashville Drive-In
1303 Mine Street,
Nashville,
AR
71852
1303 Mine Street,
Nashville,
AR
71852
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previously operated by: K. Lee Williams Theaters Inc.
Previous Names: Howard Auto Theater
Nearby Theaters
Located in Nashville, Arkansas, in the southwest part of the state, The Nashville Drive-In held room for 240 cars and was owned by K. Lee Williams Circuit when it opened as the Howard Auto Theater in spring of 1953 with Mickey Rooney in “All Ashore”. The sign on the theatre was a transfer from the town center Howard Theatre which closed when the drive-in opened. The sign was later replaced.
In 1971 the Nashville Drive-In, together with the Elberta Theatre, were purchased by Cecil Callahan who operated it until he passed away in 1976. Both theatres were then taken over by Jim Paul Johnson. The Elberta Theater was closed first but the drive-in continued until at least 1992.
Contributed by
MikeRogers
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Probably is Chuck.My info once again came from my OLD 1956 Motion Picture Almanac.wish they would QUIT changing names.
PLEASE CHANGE NAME TO:
NASHVILLE DRIVE-IN
AKA:
NONE
REMOVE:
HIGHWAY 27
THE FILM DAILY YEAR BOOK OF MOTION PICTURES 1967 FORTY-NINTH EDITION
“Arkansas
Nashville:
Howard Auto
Nashville Drive-In”
Two Different Drive-Ins open at the same time.
Nashville Drive-In
Open ~1955-~1969? Can anyone verify the exact dates?
Held 240 cars
Owner:
K. Lee Williams Theaters, Inc. of DeQueen, Ark., R.L. Robison, President & Gen. Mgr., they had 13 theaters in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
More info and photos are always welcome.
Thanks Guys.
It was opened in the early 50’s. The markee always read Howard Auto Drive-In. May grandfather managed and then owned it until his retirement in the early 1980’s. It was on HWY27. Some of my favorite and worst memories where here. I love getting to go visit, and work in the snackbar. The fliers that he would pass out to surrounding towns everytime the movies changed would also list it as Nashville drive-in. It also suffered several fires, and i can remember as a young child watching everyone in the family coming together to rebuild. My favorite thing to do was sit on the rails in front of the projection booth, and try to talk into the huge fan that was there to try to keep moths out of the light. Hope that helps to explain the descrepency in the name.
Thanks kcallaham.
Good story kcallaham,so many good stories,bet you have more,Pictures?
Found this one, approximate address is 1303 Mine St, Nashville, AR 71852. Nashville Rural Water Association now occupies part of the site but you can still see some of the old ramps on Google Earth.
The September 23, 1950 issue of Boxoffice said that the K. Lee Williams Theatres circuit had begun construction of a 350-car drive-in on the Murfreesboro Highway a mile north of Nashville, Arkansas.
The 1989 Nashville High School yearbook included a photo (uploaded here) and a short note:
“The Howard Auto Theater had been in business about 30 years. Mr. John Johnson had owned it for the past eight. Because it was more profitable, the drive-in remained open even after the Elberta Theater downtown was sold.”