Weeping Oak Drive-In

dallasmovietheaters on May 31, 2020 at 11:15 am

Believe it or not, one of De Leon, Texas' claims to fame was its great oak tree that was purportedly featured in a 1937 column of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” Oddly, so the story goes, it was the only Weeping Oak variety in the area and its majesty was well known to residents with the tree living more than 150 years. The tree dated back prior to the town being laid out by a surveying effort by the Texas Central Railway in 1881.

The De Leon Weeping Oak tree was just a mile south of town on Highway 16 which right across the street from where the drive-in was built. For in-town patrons, it was an entertainment two-fer – a movie and the tree. The Drive-In screen was situated so patrons could see both before dusk. The Drive-In was damaged by two storms – both in 1983 – but the tree stood its ground. The theatre was razed in 1985 but the tree lived on. That is until May 4, 2016 when the tree succumbed to a storm and the townspeople were the ones weeping.

And the “Believe it or Not” storyline with the tree is likely more “not” as there appears to be no “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” that featured this tree in 1937 — or ever — while locals have said that there are many such oak trees in their county. But that doesn’t take away the fact that the drive-in was, believe it, named after the legendary and mighty Weeping Oak just across the street. (BTW: my post above was just to correct the synopsis which had the wrong opening date, the wrong closing date, imprecise demolition date, and actually still has the wrong original owner’s name. Other than that, you could believe it, too.)

dallasmovietheaters on May 31, 2020 at 6:49 am

The Weeping Oak Drive-In was opened with the film, “Stage to Tucson” with Rod Cameron and a fireworks show on March 1, 1951. The local paper says the operator was Leonard Scales. It also says Scales operated the two downtown theaters, the Leon and the Texas. Scales sold the ozoner to Edgar Brinson. In the summer of 1955, Brinson converted the Weeping Oak to widescreen. It was still in operation in 1983 with Hollywood films Thursday-Sunday and Spanish Language films on Wednesdays. Wind damage from two storms on April 1 and – a more severe storm – on June 28, 1983 closed the theatre for repairs. It The theatre was demolished in July of 1985.