Starlite Drive In
US-41 and County Road 350 S,
Princeton,
IN
47670
US-41 and County Road 350 S,
Princeton,
IN
47670
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The drive-in was SE of the intersection. A 1982 aerial shows the screen gone with a small building in its place and a dirt track around the drive-in. So, the drive-in appears to have not made it into the 1980s.
All traces of the drive-in were obliterated when the Toyota Manufacturing Plant and Tulip Tree Drive were constructed in the late 1990s.
Boxoffice, Nov. 26, 1949: “Princeton, Ind. - Princeton Drive-In purchased by Ted Mendelssohn.”
The Hi-Way 41 Drive-In opened its gates on July 7, 1949 with “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” along with an unnamed cartoon and an unnamed comedy (despite accidental listings on a one-week stunt as the Princeton Drive-In by advertisements from the Princeton Daily Clarion, it was still named “Hi-Way 41” until correctly resolved a week later).
It was renamed the Princeton Drive-In one season later on March 25, 1950, and the Starlite Drive-In in 1952 (and yes, it was notable for a deadly vehicle accident near the theater on June 17, 1955).
Its closing date hasn’t been found yet, but still in operation into the 1970s.
It opened in 1949 as the Highway 41, then became the Princeton, and finally to the end was the Starlite.
a 1990’s aerial shows a race track surrounding the drive-in.