A gas station on the north side has expanded to take up part of the property. The rest has been razed leaving behind no trace that a drive-in ever existed.
The drive-in was still intact in 1982, but it’s difficult to tell if it was operational. By 1985, the drive-in was demolished. By 1993, the entire property had been razed which removed all traces of the drive-in.
Today, a post office sits on the southern part of the property.
The concession stand/projector booth was still up in 2000, but had been demolished by 2007. The marquee also appears to have been removed as well. At that time, the property was still fairly open, but a few years later it became completely overgrown with trees.
Apart from the outline, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Google Maps show a faint outline of the drive-in. But a September 2022 Street View shows the property under construction with massive amounts of dirt having been placed.
So, whatever faint remains of the drive-in remained, they are now completely gone.
A closer address is 616 N Nugent Ave, Johnson City, TX.
That is the location of the screen which is now being used as a residence. You can see the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand behind the house.
A 1966 aerial does not reveal much as it appears the drive-in was long closed by this time. You can see the screen and another house nearby.
There is no way the drive-in held 300 vehicles. Even if you take out the trees, there is a creek that runs not far behind where the projection booth/concession stand was at. Plus, the trees were present in 1966 anyway.
30 cars appears to be its capacity which never changed. The 300 was probably a typo and given that it was probably closed by 1963 anyway, it’s not an entry that can be trusted.
I highly doubt this is the address to a drive-in. A 1955 aerial shows the same building in place at the entrance which still exists today. Plus, there is the issue of a landing strip which I cannot find either in aerials or topo maps near the town.
A search of the 1955 and 1982 aerials show nothing resembling a drive-in around the area. That doesn’t mean a drive-in didn’t exist. It could mean that it was built after 1955 and totally demolished by 1982.
Again, more proof is needed to accurately place the drive-in, especially if a landing strip was nearby.
That looks more like a demolished drive-in to me. There is no construction equipment, no materials, and strong indications that the screen has been removed, not being built.
So, this isn’t the Lakeview Drive-In or it closed and was demolished well before 1959.
A closer address is 1172 Old Highway 45, Guys, TN.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right across the street from where the entrance of the drive-in once stood.
An interesting aspect of the drive-in was the screen was separated from the ramps by a relatively large untouched green field. Perhaps this was the open playground as described in the description on this page.
The drive-in was intact and perhaps operational in a 1986 aerial. By 1997 it had been demolished.
Today, the property is completely overgrown with tall trees. But the trees show the outline and ramps of the drive-in. In addition, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand may still be present underneath the foliage.
Google Maps has updated their street addresses. This one puts it on the only remaining part of the drive-in, the entrance road. Part of the entrance and exit road with the divider still exists.
While the Southwood Inn occupies the southern part of the property, most of the area is an open field.
This puts it right in the middle of the property. It is the current address of the house which sits about where the projection booth/concession stand once stood.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
I’d be interested to know how the boat traffic was going to reach the drive-in. The drive-in is a good half-mile from the shoreline. There is a creek that runs from the lake near the drive-in, but it is quite small and doesn’t appear deep or wide enough to handle even small boats.
Perhaps there was a hotel next to the drive-in that was close enough for foot traffic from boaters who didn’t want to detach their trailers and could walk instead?
As late as 1981 the remnants of the drive-in were still visible, including the outline, ramps, and foundations of the projection booth/concession stand and screen.
Today, a Motel 6 sits on part of the property with the rest being undeveloped. But there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
In comparing the 1957 aerial to the 1966 aerial, it’s apparent that the projection booth doubled in size. Whether this was extending the roof to cover the area in front of the projector or it was a structure with walls I cannot say.
But when you consider that it would take five rows of twenty seats to hold 100 people. And then add the room needed to hold the projectors, other equipment, and apparently a snack bar if they gave away coffee and candy, this structure just isn’t close to being big enough.
When given the choice to believe the press reports or my eyes, I’m going to go with my eyes every time. So, either the 104-seat theater was torn down before 1966, it was not located on the drive-in property, or (most likely) the 104 seating capacity was exaggerated by at least half.
A 1970 aerial shows a small projection booth. By 1983, the booth had expanded considerably and possibly contained a concession stand. By 2002, the screen had been removed.
Today, the projection booth/concession stand is still present and seems to have been expanded. You can still see the ramps, outline, and the ticket booth appears to be standing as well.
A 1976 aerial shows the drive-in to be demolished. By 2010, all remaining traces of the drive-in were removed.
A gas station on the north side has expanded to take up part of the property. The rest has been razed leaving behind no trace that a drive-in ever existed.
The marquee was removed by 1981. You can still see its rectangular base until 1993.
Today, even the base is gone. A sign for the prison sits just a few feet away from where the marquee once stood.
The larger, square-like concrete base that is still present is not the marquee. That didn’t appear until 1993.
The concession stand/projection booth is rubble. The only thing left is the marquee.
The drive-in was still intact in 1982, but it’s difficult to tell if it was operational. By 1985, the drive-in was demolished. By 1993, the entire property had been razed which removed all traces of the drive-in.
Today, a post office sits on the southern part of the property.
The concession stand/projector booth was still up in 2000, but had been demolished by 2007. The marquee also appears to have been removed as well. At that time, the property was still fairly open, but a few years later it became completely overgrown with trees.
Apart from the outline, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Google Maps show a faint outline of the drive-in. But a September 2022 Street View shows the property under construction with massive amounts of dirt having been placed.
So, whatever faint remains of the drive-in remained, they are now completely gone.
A closer address is 1904 Emmet St N, Charlottesville, VA.
Today, a Kroger sits on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/3dabjr83
A 1955 aerial shows the demolished remains of the drive-in.
Today, the property is underneath the cloverleaf of WA-512 and I-5 with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 616 N Nugent Ave, Johnson City, TX.
That is the location of the screen which is now being used as a residence. You can see the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand behind the house.
A 1966 aerial does not reveal much as it appears the drive-in was long closed by this time. You can see the screen and another house nearby.
There is no way the drive-in held 300 vehicles. Even if you take out the trees, there is a creek that runs not far behind where the projection booth/concession stand was at. Plus, the trees were present in 1966 anyway.
30 cars appears to be its capacity which never changed. The 300 was probably a typo and given that it was probably closed by 1963 anyway, it’s not an entry that can be trusted.
https://tinyurl.com/4vfakveh
I highly doubt this is the address to a drive-in. A 1955 aerial shows the same building in place at the entrance which still exists today. Plus, there is the issue of a landing strip which I cannot find either in aerials or topo maps near the town.
A search of the 1955 and 1982 aerials show nothing resembling a drive-in around the area. That doesn’t mean a drive-in didn’t exist. It could mean that it was built after 1955 and totally demolished by 1982.
Again, more proof is needed to accurately place the drive-in, especially if a landing strip was nearby.
That looks more like a demolished drive-in to me. There is no construction equipment, no materials, and strong indications that the screen has been removed, not being built.
So, this isn’t the Lakeview Drive-In or it closed and was demolished well before 1959.
Only the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand still exists from the drive-in.
A closer address is 1172 Old Highway 45, Guys, TN.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right across the street from where the entrance of the drive-in once stood.
An interesting aspect of the drive-in was the screen was separated from the ramps by a relatively large untouched green field. Perhaps this was the open playground as described in the description on this page.
The drive-in was intact and perhaps operational in a 1986 aerial. By 1997 it had been demolished.
Today, the property is completely overgrown with tall trees. But the trees show the outline and ramps of the drive-in. In addition, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand may still be present underneath the foliage.
https://tinyurl.com/3fpse2mk
A closer address is 625 Mulberry Ave, Selmer, TN.
Google Maps has updated their street addresses. This one puts it on the only remaining part of the drive-in, the entrance road. Part of the entrance and exit road with the divider still exists.
While the Southwood Inn occupies the southern part of the property, most of the area is an open field.
https://tinyurl.com/bdheat96
A closer address is 32595 Dupont Blvd, Dagsboro, DE.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this one puts it on a house where the entrance road once existed.
https://tinyurl.com/33k5dyfz
A closer address is 5565 Elmore Rd, Elmore, AL.
This puts it right in the middle of the property. It is the current address of the house which sits about where the projection booth/concession stand once stood.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/yfbfent4
As of August 2022, the screen appears to be standing. Although it is in poor shape.
I’d be interested to know how the boat traffic was going to reach the drive-in. The drive-in is a good half-mile from the shoreline. There is a creek that runs from the lake near the drive-in, but it is quite small and doesn’t appear deep or wide enough to handle even small boats.
Perhaps there was a hotel next to the drive-in that was close enough for foot traffic from boaters who didn’t want to detach their trailers and could walk instead?
As late as 1981 the remnants of the drive-in were still visible, including the outline, ramps, and foundations of the projection booth/concession stand and screen.
Today, a Motel 6 sits on part of the property with the rest being undeveloped. But there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
In comparing the 1957 aerial to the 1966 aerial, it’s apparent that the projection booth doubled in size. Whether this was extending the roof to cover the area in front of the projector or it was a structure with walls I cannot say.
But when you consider that it would take five rows of twenty seats to hold 100 people. And then add the room needed to hold the projectors, other equipment, and apparently a snack bar if they gave away coffee and candy, this structure just isn’t close to being big enough.
When given the choice to believe the press reports or my eyes, I’m going to go with my eyes every time. So, either the 104-seat theater was torn down before 1966, it was not located on the drive-in property, or (most likely) the 104 seating capacity was exaggerated by at least half.
The drive-in was still intact in 1982. By 1994, it had been completely demolished.
Today, it is an open field with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The address is the same, but the drive-in sat where the Kroger grocery store is now located.
A 1964 aerial shows the drive-in intact. Today, the only remaining remnant is the projection booth/concession stand.
A 1970 aerial shows a small projection booth. By 1983, the booth had expanded considerably and possibly contained a concession stand. By 2002, the screen had been removed.
Today, the projection booth/concession stand is still present and seems to have been expanded. You can still see the ramps, outline, and the ticket booth appears to be standing as well.