Queen Drive-In

3700 South Boulevard,
Charlotte, NC 28209

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: H.B. Meiselman Theaters

Previous Names: South 21 Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

Queen Drive In ad

Located on Pineville Road (today South Boulevard). The 21 South Drive-In was opened on August 4, 1949 with Clark Gable in “San Francisco”. It was operated by the H.B. Meiselman Ct., initially with a capacity for 100 cars. By 1951 with a 400 car capacity it was operated by T.A. Little. By 1955 it was operated by Corbin Smith.

It was renamed the Queen Drive-In on December 21, 1962 screening Elvis Presley in “Girls!, Girls!, Girls!” & James Cagney in “Never Steal Anything Small”. It was closed in the late-1970’s and was demolished to make way for the Queen Park Multi-Cinema, which opened in December 1982. It too has also been demolished.

Contributed by Mark Huffstetler

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on July 18, 2009 at 8:54 pm

Here is a newspaper ad for the Queen:
http://tinyurl.com/mwcvh7

mhlt
mhlt on July 1, 2011 at 8:49 am

It did not open in the 40s. It was built in the early 60s, about one mile north of the old Pineville Road Drive In.The original marquee “needle” still stands.

jwmovies
jwmovies on November 11, 2012 at 2:42 am

Approx. address for this drive-in was 200 Freeland Lane, Charlotte, NC 28217.

JOE_HARRIS
JOE_HARRIS on January 25, 2015 at 4:22 am

AS A TEENAGER I WORK AT QUEEN DRIVE-IN. THE MANAGER OF THE DRIVE-IN WAS PHIL MCKINNEY. THE LOT HAD 1000 SPEAKERS.AND QUITE OFTEN WE HAD A FULL HOUSE AND HAD TO SHOW A ANOTHER SHOWING THAT NIGHT. I SAW SEVERAL NIGHTS OF POP CORN SALES OVER 1000 BOXES. THE QUEEN TOWER IS STILL STANDING TODAY. IT WAS OWNED BY A COMPANY CALLED PIEDMONT THEATERS. THE OWNER WENT BY THE NAME OF DOC TIMER (GREAT GUY).

THE MANAGER WAS A GREAT GUY. STOOD 6'9" TALL. AND WE CALLED BOSS MAN OR 69. SOME OF THE CREW WAS BOBBY COGGINS, WESLEY COGGINS, ERNEST GORDON, BILL ELLER,MR MAC,DONNIE LUDWIG, AND MYSELF.

GREW UP AROUND THE THEATRE AND STILL MISS IT TODAY.

mhlt
mhlt on October 19, 2015 at 1:34 pm

The Queen Drive In was built by Howell Theatres, of Smithfield, NC. Rudy Howell was the owner of that company. Phil McKinney, the manager mentioned above, was indeed 6'9" tall, and a very fine man. He lived on the street leading to the exit. Phil hailed from Bakersville, NC. Along with his brother Bob, he worked for many years for Howell Theatres, and then Piedmont Theatres. Piedmont was owned by the above mentioned L L “Doc” Theimer and my father, C C “Bill” Talbert. They were in business together from the early 50s until around 1990.

gjturner
gjturner on January 12, 2016 at 7:08 pm

mhlt are you Mike Talbert? Please respond to:

I also worked for Mr McKinnney when he came to Greenville.

TomMc11
TomMc11 on June 30, 2017 at 8:58 am

As of Google Street View from March of 2016 the Needle has been removed and there is a sign stating that Office/Retail is coming soon. On Bing Maps Aerial and Birds Eye the needle is still currently visible, but not in their street level view, as of this post.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on March 7, 2018 at 9:11 am

It’s weird – the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists the “South 21 D.I.” on Pineville Road, which was US Highway 21. Yet the 1956 Motion Picture Almanac didn’t show 21 South or South 21 anywhere in North Carolina, and neither did several other MPAs I spot-checked. (The 1955-56 Catalog also had the South 29, which the MPA listed through at least 1982, but that’s a different part of Charlotte.)

The 1966 edition of the International Motion Picture Almanac did not include the Queen. The 1969-76 editions listed it with a capacity of 1000. In the 1978 edition, its capacity was listed as 250, owned by Howell Thea. By the 1980 edition, it was gone.

HistoricAerials.com shows the Pineville Road site with a large drive-in in 1965 but not 1960, suggesting the Queen was built there in between those photos. Topo maps in 1970-78 but not 1965 also show the drive-in there. Its earliest photo was from 1960, and in a quick look along old US 21, I couldn’t find any obvious drive-ins.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on December 28, 2019 at 9:12 pm

Opened on 21/12/1962 with an hour of cartoons(not named), “Girls! Girls! Girls!” And “Never steal anything small”.

rivest266
rivest266 on January 19, 2020 at 11:25 am

This did open as the North 21 Drive-In on August 4th, 1949 with “San Francisco” with Clark Gable. In 1950 it was listed as the Statesville Drive-In and reopened as the Queen Drive-In on December 21st, 1962 with Elvis Presley in “Girls!, Girls!, Girls!”. Grand opening ads uploaded.

Queen Drive-In openingQueen Drive-In opening Fri, Dec 21, 1962 – 27 · The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina) · Newspapers.com

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