Rainbow Drive-In

220 Minnesota Avenue N.,
Aitkin, MN 56431

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Kenmore
Kenmore on October 21, 2022 at 9:14 pm

MichaelKilgore Maybe. There is nothing to disprove the drive-in being the Rainbow. And the other photos of the drive-in are close when comparing them to the 1984 aerial.

The sign however still seems problematic to me.

The 1984 aerial shows the road being the first one in town when coming in from the west. Why name the road when “next right” or “first right” is simpler for out-of-towners?

The marquee indicates that there had to be a parking area near the sign, probably where the picture was taken.

The only candidate I see is the old auto repair shop about 200 feet to the SW of the intersection. The 1984 aerial doesn’t show anything resembling a sign of that size in that location. And when you go further west, the railroad runs next to the highway with no safe parking visible for miles.

Having said all that, I do believe it is the Rainbow Drive-In. It’s just that the sign does seem off to me.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 21, 2022 at 3:06 pm

422nd Place is/was the road from Highway 210 to the cemeteries, so it’s possible that it was referred to as the cemetery road, just as the highway to a neighboring town was often called the “That-Town Highway”.

Kenmore
Kenmore on October 21, 2022 at 10:19 am

There is a drive-in about ¼ mile east of Pacific Street Northwest & 422nd Place, Aitkin Township, Aitkin, Minnesota.

It sat on the north side of the road and appears in a 1984 aerial intact. By 1992 it had been demolished. Currently, a business sits on the property, but I cannot map the address correctly, so the intersection will have to do for now.

However, if the picture of the Rainbow Drive-In sign is correct, then this is probably not the drive-in. I cannot find a “Cemetery Road” in Aitkin.

https://tinyurl.com/3c62wbe4