Rietta Drive-In
US-82 and Myers Road,
Henrietta,
TX
76365
US-82 and Myers Road,
Henrietta,
TX
76365
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Billboard’s 1952 notes indicate that the Tower opened a few months before the Rietta, but otherwise, this story checks out. Motion Picture Exhibitor, Jan. 30, 1963: “Soon after opening his Rietta Drive-In at Henrietta, Tex., several years ago, an opposition drive-in was opened on the other side of town, but this one didn’t do so well; Claude Thorp bought the property. Now Thorp is constructing a building on the drive-in land for a garage and used car lot. Thorp has the Rietta and Dorothy, an indoor house in Henrietta, the Gem in Ryan, the Empress in Waurika, and a theatre in Burkburnett.”
On maybe the Rietta was a second drive-in at a different location? Billboard, Oct. 25, 1952: “Claude Thorpe is schedule to open a new drive-in at Henrietta, Tex. He is conducting a contest to name the drive-in.”
Maybe the Rietta started with another name? Billboard, July 26, 1952: “The Tower Drive-In, the town’s first, has been opened at Henrietta, Tex., by Jim Bailey. The drive-in has a 200-car capacity.”
The only drive-in for Henrietta in the 1955 Motion Picture Almanac was the Tower, capacity 184, owner Joe Bailey. The 1956 MPA listed both the Tower, same details, and the Rietta, no details. The 1957-59 editions still listed both and added a 300-car capacity for the Rietta. The Tower dropped off in 1960.
The first drive-in to appear in the Theatre Catalog was the Rietta, capacity 316, in the 1955-56 edition.
The only drive-in near Henrietta that I could find on a 1957 topo map was the one Kenmore found, west of town. That drive-in appeared to be active in a 1953 aerial photo.
“Claude Thorpe, manager of the Rietta Drive-In, Henrietta, charges only 75 cents a carload each Wednesday and Thursday evening. The Rietta is one of the best equipped drive-ins in the area, featuring a fine playground.” — Boxoffice, July 4, 1960
Found it!
The drive-in sat just west of US82 and Myers Road on the west side of town.
Today, a cellphone tower sits on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining. http://tinyurl.com/mnymz9g