Cowtown Drive-In

2245 Jacksboro Highway,
Fort Worth, TX 76114

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Additional Info

Architects: Harvey A. Jordan

Nearby Theaters

Cowtown Drive-In exterior

The Cowtown Drive-In opened on September 2, 1950 with Gregory Peck in “The Gunfighter”. It ran third run movies. The rear of the screen tower had a painted mural of a steer, with the Fort Worth skline in the background. When first opened, patrons drove up to the ticket office and were served by long-legged cowgirls dressed in Texas regalia!

The Cowtown Drive-In featured a childrens playground and in-car heaters, and had a capacity for 950 cars.

It was closed 1964 and reopened July 1, 1966, finally closing in 1984.

Contributed by Lost Memory

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on April 4, 2010 at 1:44 pm

There is an article about the Cowtown Drive-In in the February 3, 1951, issue of Boxoffice. It was owned by Southwest Theatres, a company headed by C. A. Richter, who had opened the first drive-in in Texas in the late 1930s.

The Cowtown Drive-In was designed by Harvey A. Jordan, who was also the contractor. The owners and the designer posed in front of the screen tower for a photo that appeared as the frontispiece of the Modern Theatre section of the same issue of Boxoffice.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on May 8, 2010 at 1:02 pm

Great name for a drive-in in Texas.

LarryFM
LarryFM on February 19, 2012 at 3:27 pm

BIG KUDOS to whomever posted the above pic of the Cowtown Drive-In Theatre! Along with the matching nighttime shot, the other daytime shot at the ‘Fort Worth…the Way We Were’ website, and the shot in Boxoffice Magazine, it has become the most photographed drive-in theatre in Fort Worth. If I may ask, where was it found? Thanks, again!

malcolmdbc39
malcolmdbc39 on February 7, 2014 at 11:24 am

Mr. Vogel, your URL does not work. Has it changed.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 24, 2018 at 12:21 pm

This opened on September 2nd, 1950. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 25, 2018 at 10:43 am

Closed in 1964 and reopened on July 1st, 1966. Another ad posted.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on August 16, 2019 at 6:43 am

The Aug. 1, 1960 issue of Boxoffice reported that one Saturday evening, a car slammed into the box office, breaking the leg of the off-duty police officer working there and trapping manager Bill Corbell inside. Corbell worked through the pain to finish selling tickets for the night, and later x-rays revealed that he had suffered a fractured pelvis. At the time of the article, the policeman was still in the hospital but Corbell had been released.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on August 16, 2019 at 11:07 pm

Reopened on 1/7/1966 with “Duel at Diablo”, “Mclintock” and “Wild guitar”.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on November 14, 2020 at 4:12 am

The Cowtown closed playing Spanish language films and also hosting a weekend flea market in 1984.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on November 14, 2020 at 8:26 pm

The site is now a Walmart supwrcenter, a bank(First Convenience Bank), a restaurant(Subway), 2 money transfer companys(Coinstar and Moneygram), and a pharmacy(Walmart Pharmacy).

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