31 West Drive-In
6250 Nashville Road,
Franklin,
KY
42134
6250 Nashville Road,
Franklin,
KY
42134
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The 31 West Drive-In was opened on July 23, 1969 with Andy Griffith in “Angel in My Pocket” & “Don Knotts in "The Shakiest Gun in the West”. It was closed in November, 2022 and was sold in February 2023. The screen has been demolished.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Here is a photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yfdhz7x
That’s a lower than normal marquee.
Articles in the College Heights Herald and The Tennessean both include quotes from the owner and a start date of 1969.
CinemaTour says the 31W was built “in the 1960s by Joe Rhoton” and later sold when his health declined.
The 1955 Theatre Catalog shows no drive-ins in Franklin. Neither do the 1959 through 1969 IMPAs. The 1972 (my first after ‘69) shows the 31-W with a capacity of 312. By the 1982 IMPA, the listing changed to 31 West, J. C. Rhoton, and that’s how it stayed through the end of the IMPA lists.
OTOH, Movie-Theater.org (PDF) says that the Franklin Drive-In at this address was owned by “Jones, G. C.” from 1950-64. That’s a very specific note! Then again, the page also says that another drive-in, the 31-W, operated from about 1975-85, and that matches the possible dates for the old Franklin Drive-In on Russellville Road. Confusing!
This week’s Franklin Favorite includes the blurb that the Nashville Road Franklin DI “has been family owned and operated since 1969.”
“The theater is currently owned by Gary and Tina Price and Wayne and Judy Price Price and operates seasonally from March until October.”
The owners announced this week on Facebook that they have sold the Franklin, which will not reopen as a theater.
Became the 31 West Drive-In on July 23, 1969 with “Angel in my Pocket”
Google Maps overhead shows the screen is gone.
Edited from my June 10, 2022 (8:14 AM) comment:
Actually, the 31 West Drive-In started construction earlier in 1969, and opened its gates on July 23, 1969 with Andy Griffith in “Angel In My Pocket” and Don Knotts in “The Shakiest Gun In The West”.
The nearby Franklin Drive-In, which opened in September 1949, either closed around the same time in connection of the opening of the 31 West or continued operating without any advertisements being demonstrated.