Hull's Drive-In
2367 N. Lee Highway,
Lexington,
VA
24450
2367 N. Lee Highway,
Lexington,
VA
24450
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Related Websites
Hull's Drive-In (Official)
Additional Info
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Lee Drive-In
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
540.463.2621
Nearby Theaters
The Lee Drive-In opened on August 5, 1950 with a capacity for 300 cars. In August 1957 the Lee Drive-In was sold and renamed Hull’s Drive-In. After the 1998 season, the drive-in closed.
In 2000 local residents formed a group called “Hull’s Angels” and dedicated themselves to find a way to re-open the drive-in. In 2000 this group leased the property and opened the drive-in. In 2001 after significant fundraising, the group purchased the drive-in and it remains open today. Hull’s Drive-In is America’s only non-profit community-owned drive-in.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Homepage:
http://www.hullsdrivein.com/
What a great site!
Photos:
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/hulls3.jpg
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/hulls2.jpg
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/hulls4.jpg
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/26uql8
Here is yet another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/67tgwe
Here are a bunch of great photos, taken right before and right after the 2000 reopening:
http://www.driveins.org/va-lexington-hulls.htm
http://www.driveins.org/va-lexington-hulls-2.htm
Note from their website: Thanks to the wonderful and generous support of our community, business sponsors, and guests, Hull’s Drive-In can now show all our movies on a state-of-the-art digital projector with a picture sharpness and clarity you must see to believe! From your friends at Hull’s Drive-In Theatre – THANK YOU one and all!
Hull’s is such a wonderful story of a saved drive-in, and that might be one reason why its origins get such a cursory mention. The excellent history page at Hull’s includes: “The theatre was built by W.C. Atkins in 1950, and operated as the Lee Drive-In on land leased from the Hostetter family. Sebert W. Hull purchased the business and lease in 1957.”
Drive-Ins.org said that “local residents Waddy and Virginia Atkins, who earlier had founded what became Hull’s Drive-In in Lexington” owned the Riverside Drive-In in Roanoke from 1958 until its closing.
A detailed if sometimes contradictory history on the Hull’s page on Weebly said “a couple from Roanoke owned the business, a Mr. and Mrs. Atkins, and they’d drive back and forth from Roanoke every night.” Which would explain why they eventually swapped the Lee for the Riverside in their backyard. Also, Mr. Mason Hostetter was a farmer who owned the land behind the Lee.
In the 1952-56 Theatre Catalogs, R. Perdue was listed as the owner of the Lee, capacity 220. Who was this Perdue?
For some reason, the 1952-54 Motion Picture Almanacs didn’t include the Lee. The 1955-59 editions listed W. C. Adkins (sic) as the owner, capacity 250.
Why was it renamed Hull?
some time between 2012 and 2016 the screen was torn down and replaced with a new one!
Why the original name Lee?