Family Drive-In

18049 Ames Trail,
Faribault, MN 55021

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MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on September 3, 2023 at 12:11 am

Motion Picture Herald, June 11, 1955: “Drive-In Theatre Co. of Sioux Falls, S. D., will build a 650-car drive-in at Faribault, Minn. John Watters of Fairmont, Minn., will manage the project.”

Years earlier, Nash-Watters built Fairmont’s Family Drive-In. I guess they liked the name.

Kenmore
Kenmore on November 27, 2022 at 10:01 pm

A closer address is 18049 Ames Trail, Faribault, MN.

The entrance road never connected with Faribault Boulevard. A 1961 topo maps shows the drive-in connecting to Ames Trail which is confirmed by a 1984 aerial. And while the address is slightly east of the entrance road, it is pretty close.

Today, only faint parch marks remain of a few ramps and the beginning of the entrance road. Otherwise, the property is now a field used for growing crops.

https://tinyurl.com/bdd4aj4b

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on November 27, 2022 at 3:34 pm

It appears that it closed sometime in the mid or late 1980s.

Kenmore
Kenmore on April 28, 2021 at 4:30 am

A 1991 aerial shows the remnants of the drive-in. It appears to be quite large.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on April 28, 2021 at 1:54 am

There are some rare crossing signals on the trail