Merced Tioga Drive-In
3021 Gurr Road,
Atwater,
CA
95301
3021 Gurr Road,
Atwater,
CA
95301
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Located in Atwater to the northwest of Merced, CA. The Merced Tioga Drive-In opened on March 8, 1949 with Clark Gable in “Command Decision”. It had room for 350 cars but expanded to 550, according to an April 9, 1949 Boxoffice note. It mentioned Walter A. Lawrence and William D. Bacon as two of the principals in the Coast Theatre Co., which operated the Merced Tioga Drive-In.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog listed its capacity as 525, its owner as the Frank Lucino Circuit. By 1955 it was operated by United California Theatres Inc. It was still open in 1957.
Contributed by
Michael Kilgore
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
I finally found this one ,it was actually located outside Merced to the NW in Atwater. The address is 3020 Gurr Rd, Atwater 95301. It was in a 1958 aerial but doesn’t look in good shape. It may have ceased operating when the bigger drive-in opened closer to town? Currently half the site is occupied by a house and the other half is a bare dirt lot, nothing remains of the drive-in.
The Tioga Drive-In opened on March 8th, 1949, as the first drive-in in the Merced area. Grand opening ad posted.
A closer address is 3021 Gurr Rd, Atwater, CA.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
The drive-in looks intact and operational in a 1957 aerial. But the aerial the following year does make it look a little unkempt. By 1984, the drive-in had been totally demolished.
Today, the southern half has a home while the northern half is an open field with lots of rocks scattered about. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/ye2tsbnm