Hands Drive-In
US-80 and Syrup Mill Road,
Minden,
LA
71055
US-80 and Syrup Mill Road,
Minden,
LA
71055
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Minden Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Drive-In was opened by 1946. Also known as the Minden Drive-In it was renamed Hands Drive-In in April 1949. It had closed by 1955.
Contributed by
MikeRogers
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The address for this drive-in was 1500 Shreveport Road.
The address given above is incorrect. That is the address for the Joy Drive-In, which is a completely different drive-in, located in the same town.
Hand’s Drive-In was built by Edgar Hand, and was open as early as 1946. It was originally called just “Drive-In” or “Minden Drive-In.” When the newer Joy Drive-In opened in 1952, the name of the older drive-in was changed that same year from “Minden Drive-In” to “Hand’s Drive-In,” probably to avoid public confusion between the two drive-ins near Minden.
It is uncertain exactly when Hand’s Drive-In closed, but it stops appearing in theatre catalogs around 1958. Minden was probably not big enough to support both drive-ins, and Joy Drive-In was located five miles closer to town, plus it may have had better facilities being a newer drive-in.
The correct address for Hand’s Drive-In was:
US-80 at Syrup Mill Rd Minden, LA 71055
The drive-in was about five miles west of town, on what used to be referred to as Shreveport Highway, but is now US-80.
HERE is an aerial photo of the drive-in from 1949, courtesy of USGS & Earth Explorer.
The property is currently undeveloped and overgrown. An outline of the drive-in is still barely visible on Google Earth, along with the vague shape of parking ramps. No structures remain on the property.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that “E. B. Hand has opened his Hand Drive-In in Minden, La., making two drive-ins in the town of 6,677 persons. There are three other theatres there.”