Cruise-In Drive-In
1180 N. Main Street,
Lillington,
NC
27546
1180 N. Main Street,
Lillington,
NC
27546
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Cruise-In Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Cruise-In Drive-In was opened prior to 1953, when it was operated by A.J. Collins. The historic address was 421 Lillington Airport Highway.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Above address is incorrect. Approx. location for this drive-in was Old U.S. 421. Use 3660 U.S. 421. The Outline is still there, way out of town heading west.
jwmovies, do you have an aerial photo showing the outline of the drive-in? I could not find any evidence of a drive-in at the location you provided.
I did find an advertisement for the drive-in in a 1953 high school yearbook which provides location information for Cruise-In Theater as “1 mile north of Lillington on 15-A.”
There were no physical remnants of the drive-in on aerial photos of that area which I examined, which leads me to believe that this was probably a temporary “pop-up” type of drive-in, with no ramps or permanent structures.
Ok, some research shows that 15-A is now US 401. If you look at the location of West Cornelius Harnett Blvd & Brightwater Dr., Lillington, NC and either go back on Google Earth or Historic Aerials that spot looks as if it may have had a Drive-In at one point in time. Historic Aerials only goes back to 1998 and Google Earth to 1993 so if someone has access to earlier aerials and can confirm that would be good. This would place it roughly 1 mile north of downtown Lillington. Brightwater Dr. now goes through the property I have indicated, it did not exist until recently.
I suspose when the movie or movies finished, you just cruise out of the drive-in!?
A closer address is 1180 N Main St, Lillington, NC.
A 1955 aerial shows the screen and projection booth of the drive-in. The screen stood quite close, seemingly dangerously close to Main Street on the east side. By 1973, it was completely demolished.
Today, a strip mall stands on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/3kcym3wk
The drive-in may not have lasted that long. A 1960 aerial shows a new building on the east side towards the back of the property. With cars parked haphazardly around it and the projection booth.
It may be that the service station, which is just SE of the drive-in in the 1955 aerial, was demolished and rebuilt on the back of the drive-in. Because the service station no longer appears in the 1960 aerial. But that is just a guess.