Beverly Drive-In
Old Airport Road and Edwards Street,
Hattiesburg,
MS
39401
Old Airport Road and Edwards Street,
Hattiesburg,
MS
39401
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: N & S Theater Drive-Ins
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 1, 2010 — Closed Beverly Drive-in in Hattiesburg razed by fire
- Aug 24, 2006 — Fate uncertain for Beverly Drive-In
Opened May 29, 1948 with Sonny Tufts in “Swell Guy”. The historic Beverly Drive-In ran successfully for decades. In 1955 it was operated by H. Hargroder and had an 800 car capacity. On March 30, 1979 a second screen was added, but on September 27, 1987, the theater’s owner passed away suddenly, and the theater was forced to close.
Thanks to the efforts of Jim Norton and Barbara Suick, who own seven drive-in theaters in Florida and Wisconsin, the Beverly Drive-In reopened on May 15 2001, years after its last season came to an end. Norton and Suick’s N&S Theater Drive-Ins is one of the largest drive-in chains in the country, and their eight theaters are among the roughly 600 left in the United States. The two are leasing the Beverly Drive-In from the daughter of the original owner.
The Beverly Drive-In was reopened as a first-run twin theater and now contains 500 parking spaces with two large screens, one measuring 100 x 75 feet and another measuring 80 x 40 feet.
It was destroyed by a fire in October 2010. A housing development named Village Apartments now stand on the site.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
According to the website All the Mississippi, the address for this Drive-in is 5320 U.S. Highway 49 Hattiesburg, MS 39401. Edwards Street is Business Highway 49.
Please update.
A little trivia. This theater was named for the Hargroder’s daughter Beverly, with whom I attended the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg in 1970-71.
A much closer address (for Google Maps) is Old Airport Rd & Edwards Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401.
The problem with the 5320 U.S. Highway 49 Hattiesburg, MS address is that Edwards Street is “Business Highway 49”, not “U.S. Highway 49”. So Google maps it to the northwest of the city, not the southeast where the drive-in is located.
http://tinyurl.com/jofwhhb
This opened on May 29th, 1948. Grand opening ad already up.
2 screens on March 30th, 1979. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Now village at the Beverly apartments please update!
And a Dollar General in front of the apartments fronting Highway 49, roughly where the Goofy Golf and the front screen were.
The Beverly Drive-In also suffered extensive damage by Hurricane Katrina. The fire happened on the morning of October 30, 2010.
The entrance road and foundation of the screen remain. Along with the brick pylons on either side of the entrance to the drive-in. However, they have been hidden by overgrowth.
Actual original 1987 closing date is September 27, 1987 with “Harry And The Hendersons” and “An American Tail” in Screen 1 and “Superman IV” and “Burglar” in Screen 2. It originally closed for the season, but didn’t reopen for the 1988 season because of the owner’s passing during break.