Ellis Drive-In

The Ellis Drive-In opened on April 11, 1950 featuring the 1946 western “Canyon Passage” with Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward and Patricia Roc. It was opened by Robb & Rowley United Inc. with a 400 car capacity. They were also operating the Empire Theatre, Ritz Theatre and Texas Theatre all indoor theatres in Waxahachie at this time. In 1951 United Artists Theatres acquired half of the Robb & Rowley stock when Mr. Robb passed away, creating Rowley United Theatres. United Artists later purchased the balance of the stock from Mr. Rowley in 1972 and absorbed the Rowley United Theatres Inc. circuit into the larger United Artists portfolio of cinemas.

The Ellis Drive-In showed its last movie on August 29, 1969 and closed for the season, never to reopen again. In the early-1970’s it was used as a flea market. The drive-in was demolished except for the roadside marquee which sits abandoned and crumbling, overgrown by trees and bushes. Part of the land was sold to a printing company and the rest is an open field.

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

drivein2001 on February 16, 2011 at 8:08 pm

Today, the only thing left is the marquee which still stands hidden in the trees. The foundation of the snack bar & projection room is still on the land. Nothing else is left..
Photos I took a few months back can be seen here:. View link .. Click on the photos to enlarge them..
RAC Photography

Driveintheatre2001 on January 29, 2012 at 11:31 pm

++Copied from the Texas Theatre page (Waxahachie Tx)..

++Chuck1231 – If you type in 1600 Mulkey Road, Waxahachie, Tx in the search box of google-maps, you’ll see the outline of the Ellis Drive In Theatre… Mulkey Road is another name for Bus.Hwy. 287.. On the North-east side of the road, there’s a building (Lower right) that sits right next to the land of where the Ellis Drive In once occupied.++

This is no where near 287-Bypass & Ovilla Rd. Nearest intersection would be Mulkey Rd (Bus-Hwy 287) & Graham Street.. South-Southeast of Graham street..

Address looks to be 1800 Mulkey Rd (Bus-Hwy 287)

Randy A Carlisle – Historical Photographer

Kenmore on January 5, 2022 at 7:12 am

The marquee was still present in a 2012 Google street view. By 2018, it had been removed. The metal posts which served as the foundation for the marquee are all that remain.

davidcoppock on January 6, 2022 at 5:48 am

Was it named after someone named Ellis?

dallasmovietheaters on January 6, 2022 at 9:26 am

Waxahachie is the country seat for Ellis County so it’s more for that.