Tillavue Drive-In
6695 Hathaway Road,
Tillamook,
OR
97141
6695 Hathaway Road,
Tillamook,
OR
97141
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Till-A-Vue Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
In March 1950, the Portland Oregonian reported that Tillamook theater owner C. H. Smith planned a 400-car drive-in 3-miles north of Tillamook on Highway 101. It was to include an auditorium above the concessions building to seat up to 350 walk-in patrons.
Tillamook theatre owner Claude H. “Dude” Smith opened the Tillavue Drive-In in 1952. (In 1953, Boxoffice wrote that manager “Bob” Smith had added a children’s playground.) Smith owned and operated the Till-A-View Drive-In and other local theatres until he died in 1963; Gus Elbow Jr. took over then.
The 1953-1954 Motion Picture Almanac included the Till-A-Vue Drive-In, owned by C. H. Smith. It was still open in 1965. Later additions added a capacity of 440 cars. When the MPA rebooted its drive-in list for the 1977 edition, the Tillavue was gone, though the 1978 MPA still showed the Tillavue as owned by William and Janice Parr of Tillamook.
Contributed by
Michael Kilgore
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog included this as the Till-A-Vue Drive-In, owner Dude Smith, capacity 440 cars. Its entries in the Film Daily Year Book series also used that double hyphenated name, which should be listed as an alternate name here.
I see now that the Boxoffice note in June 1952 said that Smith opened the “Till-a-Vue Drive-In north of town,” so never mind that 1½ miles south business.
Aha! There was a drive-in of about the right size due north of Tillamook. It was over 3 miles north, and only 2½ miles southeast of Bay City, but there you are. Aerial photos show it active in 1953 and 1965, and still mostly intact in 1982. It was razed by 1995, and nothing of it survives today.
The address matching the old screen tower is 6695 Hathaway Rd, Tillamook, OR 97141.
As I would have guessed, the Korean War-based restriction on building materials is what delayed this drive-in.
Boxoffice, Oct. 13, 1951: “Dude Smith is expanding his chain of theatres to include an outdoor situation now under construction four miles north of here on Highway 101. The 10-acre tract for the drive-in was purchased some time ago from John H. Hathaway sr. Construction was held up for a time because of restricted materials but the easing of the ban this summer made it possible to purchase materials and it is now expected that the 380-car theatre will be completed the last of October. Smith expects to open the Tillamook ozoner for business early next spring.”