Marysville Drive-In
1120 Gratiot Road,
Marysville,
MI
48040
1120 Gratiot Road,
Marysville,
MI
48040
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As mentioned above, opened September 1st, 1950 with “Sundowners” and “Blue Grass of Kentucky”.
The Marysville Drive-In is the third Michigan drive-in job that family records confirm was built by my grandfather Albert S. “Al” Johnson’s Johnson Construction Company.
Al shot several color slides of this job showing the tower trusses being raised and several views of the screen, the projection/concession building, fencing and landscaping, ticket booth, children’s play area and other elements. All slides were taken between August and September 1950, with the latter slides showing the drive-in on opening night. I’ve uploaded them to this webpage.
The first two are among the few in his collection that show drive-in tower framing being constructed onsite by bolting timbers together and then raising each upright into position by hand using ropes, and block and tackle (vs. prefabricated trusses or steel framing placed by a crane).
One image is a shot of the beautiful “Marysville Drive-In” tower and the marquee, which says “Grand Opening Tonight with the ‘Sundowners’ Also ‘Blue Grass of Kentucky.’ ” I’ll bet the neon-lit tower was visible at nighttime from the Saint Clair river just over a mile to the east.
A strip mall currently occupies the site of this demolished drive-in.