Bamberg Drive-In
US 601 and Drive-In Road,
Bamberg,
SC
29003
US 601 and Drive-In Road,
Bamberg,
SC
29003
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Highway Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
According to a Boxoffice magazine story, the Bamberg Drive-In, owned by O. C. Carter Jr., opened in late-November 1953. At that point it had 200 speakers with room to install 100 more. It was located just outside the city off the Ehrhardt Highway, known today as US 601.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed it with a capacity of 200. The first time that the International Motion Picture Almanac listed its capacity in 1961, it was 50. (Previous editions had left the capacity blank.) The IMPAs continued to list the Bamberg Drive-In that way through 1976, but the drive-in fell off the list by 1978.
That 50-car capacity has caused some to claim that the Bamberg Drive-In, sometimes called the Highway Drive-In, was one of the smallest drive-in’s to have existed.
Contributed by
Michael Kilgore
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
I believe I found it.
The address is US 601 and Drive in Road, Bamberg, SC which is located just south of the town. A 1989 aerial photo appears to show the remnants of a small drive-in.
Today, the property overgrown with trees and junk vehicles. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/yadsltvj
Great find, Kenmore. In retrospect, the name “Drive In Road” was a dead giveaway. I really had to strain at that 1989 Historic Aerials photo to see what might be a screen facing south. With the trees already growing in the view field, it’s hard to tell how large it was just from that.
wow..thanks….
The Jericho Drive-in Jericho, Queensland, Australia may be the smallest drive-in the the world(36 cars, plus a siting area!!?)?
new photos confirm Kenmore’s excellent spotting, it’s there in a 1957 aerial and almost fully demolished/partially overgrown by 1974 with the remains of the concession building remaining.
Judging by the 1957 aerial view, the drive-in looks kinda larger than a 50-car drive-in.
There are still some questions.
The 1957 aerial shows the drive-in fits the 1953 Box Office magazine and 1955/56 Theater Catalog as given in the description.
However, it does not fit the International Motion Picture Almanac of 1961 in the description as it is clearly larger than a 50-car capacity.
Plus, it had listed the drive-in existing at least to 1976. Yet the 1974 aerial clearly shows the drive-in long demolished with large trees growing on the ramps. It takes considerable time for trees to grow that large.
One possible explanation is that the drive-in closed at that location in 1959/1960 and then re-opened in another location for 1961. But if so, I have yet to find another drive-in in the 1974 aerial … yet.