Marysville Drive-In

The Marysville Drive-In opened on June 23, 1956. It screened the 1953 adventure/drama “Mogambo” with Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. The second feature was the 1954 action/war/western “Seige at Red River” with Van Johnson and Joanne Dru. The free midnite show was 1953 Western “Texas Badman” with Wayne Morris. I believe this is the last drive-in to be opened by Dale Elleman from Bellefontaine, Ohio. He was now operating the Marysville Drive-In, Bellefontaine Drive-In and New Drive-In, along with the Buffalo Drive-In, in Tampa, Florida. The Buffalo Drive-In was for black people only. The Marysville Drive-In was built at a cost of $80,000 with a car capacity of 400 cars with in-a-car speakers and in-car heaters.

The screen tower was built with wood cut from the property and the CinemaScope screen was 60 ft. x 80 ft. In the early-1960’s the drive-in was operated by Peg and Bill Goodman. On June 28, 1971, a tornado took down the wooden screen tower and the ticket booth. A new steel Selby screen tower was erected on July 7, 1971, and the theatre was reopened the following night. In 1976 the drive-in was remodeled and John Taber was the new owner of the drive-in. He was operating the New Drive-In in Belle Center, Ohio, at this time also. The drive-in kept screening features until end of the 1985 season when it closed for good. The drive was demolished and the property is now the under the entrance ramp to the US 33 by pass.

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