Starlite Drive-In

Wilmington Highway and Yopp Road,
Jacksonville, NC 28540

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Nearby Theaters

Aerial photo 1974, courtesy of USGS Earth Explorer

The Starlite Drive-In was open in 1955 with a capacity listed at 240 cars. The Starlite Drive-In closed in the mid-1970’s.

Any additional information on the Starlite Drive-In would be appreciated.

Contributed by Chuck

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

t_law56
t_law56 on February 3, 2014 at 10:23 am

When I was a kid, this place was billed as “the only adult drive-in in the country” (X-rated)! There was a restaurant next to the Starlite. My graphics teacher hosted a class dinner there in ‘75 and afterward – as we were leaving – we got the entertainment experience of our young lives! Good times …

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on February 3, 2014 at 7:37 pm

t_law56: Was this drive in on the Wilmington Highway south of the old Red Carpet Inn (now Triangle Motor Inn)? I remember going through Jacksonville back in the 1970s and passing the Red Carpet Inn, an X-rated drive-in with a restaurant next to it, and further south was another drive-in (South 17 Twin Drive-In). The Starlite may be the drive-in I keep remembering as the Moonlite for some reason. As for the Starlite being “the only adult drive-in in the country”, they were not. There were many other X-rated drive-ins in the United States, including the North 11 Drive-In over in Kinston.

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on September 28, 2014 at 10:26 pm

Approximate address of the Starlite Drive-In was 1690 Wilmington Highway. After demolition the property was used as a mobile home sales lot and is currently a sales lot for tool sheds.

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on October 7, 2014 at 9:39 pm

The Starlite Drive-In operated until either 1979 or 1980; it closed about the same time as the South 17 Twin Drive-In but was demolished a few years after the South 17 became a mobile home park.

NYozoner
NYozoner on November 29, 2014 at 10:20 pm

Nighthawk’s location for the drive-in is off by roughly 8/10 of a mile to the north.

The drive-in is under the northwest cloverleaf at the intersection of Wilmington Hwy and NC-24.

For mapping and address purposes, Wilmington Hwy at Yopp Rd will map accurately to the former location of the drive-in. An aerial photo from 1974 has been uploaded to this CT page.

No trace of the drive-in remains today, as it was completely wiped out when the Wilmington Hwy at NC-24 interchange was built.

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on December 2, 2014 at 11:44 pm

NYozoner: Thanks for finding the correct address for this drive-in. Do you have any info on a drive-in at 450 Wilmington Highway (just north of the former Starlite, immediately south of the Triangle [formerly Red Carpet] Motor Inn), now the site of the Onslow County school bus garage? The aerial view of the bus garage looks like the site was once a drive-in theater.

robboehm
robboehm on June 6, 2015 at 6:55 pm

Uploaded Starlight’s logo from the Jacksonville, NC Theaters – Tripod.com site. Site also says the concession stand was not demolished and is being repurposed.

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