Although the Stateline’s About Us page says it opened in 1947, it wasn’t listed in the 1949-50 Theatre Catalog. The 1952-56 editions listed owner Earl B. Bolling, capacity 250.
The 1952-66 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as R. D. Dunn, capacity 246. The 1978-84 editions listed R. (Ray) Glover, 200. The 1986-88 editions (finally?) sort of agreed with the old Catalogs, listing the owner as E. Bolling.
In an article about the history of the city’s indoor theater, the Elizabethton Star wrote that in 1962, Earl Bolling was the owner and operator of the Stateline Drive-In.
An archived 2009 Elizabethton Star article (PDF) wrote, “Now owned by Andy Wetsel (sic) Jr., the Stateline Drive-In was built in 1947. Wetsel purchased the theater from the late Earl Bolling, who owned it from 1952 until the 1970s, and again from 1980 to 1995.”
A 2000 article in American Profile talked to then-owner Andy Whetsel (sic). Andrew “Andy” Wetzel (as it’s spelled by every reference except the previous two) is still the owner as of March 2017.
A 2008 Topix discussion thread, which also included plenty of inflammatory talk of which I have no first-hand knowledge, said that Wetzel is married to the daughter of Bolling’s widow, which is how he acquired the Stateline.
In April 2016, the City of Elizabethton was the highest bidder to acquire the Bonnie Kate.
Here’s its history at that point, shamelessly* copied from the Elizabethton Star:
The first owner was Mrs. Ollie Browning of Bluefield WV in 1926. She lived upstairs above the theater. …
The theater formally opened to a full house on July 4, with a christening by former Governor Alfred Taylor. …
In 1950, Bob Neal, who owned the Ritz Theater downtown, purchased the theater from the Browning family.
In 1962, Earl Bolling, owner and operator of the Stateline Drive-In bought it from Bob Neal. …
In 1973, Ray Glover began managing the theater with his wife, Jeanette, until 1989. Then, they sold it to Leroy and Agnes Policky, who operated it for 15 years.
During the 1970s, a massive sheetrock wall was built to twin the theater, allowing two movies to be shown simultaneously.
In 2004, Leroy Policky sold the theater to Brian and Cindy Higgs, who operated it till 2012.
Since then, it has been without an owner. (Huh? If it was abandoned, then why were folks bidding on it?)
For the “fair use” scholarly purpose of establishing the timeline for this historic theater.
The 1952 Theatre Catalog lists the Sunset owned by Colonial Ths., capacity 300. The 1955-56 edition raised that to 342.
The 1952-63 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Sunset in Swainsville and owned by Colonial Theatres Inc., capacity 300. The MPA said that in 1953 it was the first drive-in for the small chain, based in Valdese NC, then run by general manager G. D. Carpenter. It wasn’t listed in the 1966-69 editions, but returned in Shelby for the 1972-76 editions.
When owner info returned in the 1978-82 editions, the Sunset was still owned by Colonial. For 1984-88, it was owned by Benfield Th.
Modern accounts say that Rick Stinnett, whose family built and ran the Bessemer City Kings Mountain Drive-In until it closed after the 2014 season, bought the Sunset in 1985. He spent $100,000 to remodel and convert the projection room in early 2014.
According to The Fayetteville Observer, the Keysville was reopened (in 2009 I guess) by Mark and Jennifer Frank, but they sold it to focus on a more recent purchase, the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre in Henderson NC.
A lot of news outlets got confused about the Family’s ownership structure. I guess the Wikipedia entry wasn’t around yet.
From The Washington Post, July 26, 2013: “William Dalke Jr. built the Family Drive-in Theatre outside Winchester in 1956 in the midst of an American drive-in building boom. … in time (son Tim) Dalke took over the Family Drive-In. ‘I twinned the screen in 1989 because we could double the product we were offering the public,’ he says. … (Dalke) says that Jim Kopp will be his first option if he ever wants to sell the park”.
From WTOP, August 2012: “owner Jim Kopp … took over the theater three years ago.”
From the Drive-In Theater Adventures blog, August 2013: “In March 2009, Tim Dalke leased the theatre to Jim Kopp (the lease runs for another 7 years).”
The Pittsburgh Press wrote on July 6, 1950 that “The New Dependable Drive-In Theater … opened just a week ago … was heavily damaged” in a flood that caused widespread damage in Moon Township.
The Pittsburgh Press wrote in December 1950 that the Dependable’s “owner”, “president Joseph Marcus, of the Dependable Drive-In, Inc.,” sued DeVry Corp., makers of the film projector, and sales agent D. E. Lovett for selling a bad unit and failing to repair it.
The Daily Courier of Connellsville PA wrote in September 1951 that the Dependable’s owner was Howard C. Benson when it was the victim of a holdup. The armed robber was caught, convicted and sentenced in just three months. Those were the days!
In April 1952, The Pittsburgh Press wrote that the Dependable Corp. had been chartered in 1950 with stock held by three couples – H.C.A. Hofacker and wife Florence, Joseph Marcus and wife Dora, and Robert J. Springer and wife Helen May. The Springers sued the other two couples for leasing the drive-in to Ernest Stern in June 1951. The Moon Drive-In Theater, Inc. “gained control from Mr. Stern” in September 1951.
Robert J. Springer offered a reward in 1955 for whoever shot the tame mallards at the adjoining lake.
In March 1974, neighbors signed petitions against the X-rated movies showing at the Dependable. “Let’s face it – X-rated films are the only thing that saves us,” Rick Glaus, Dependable manager, told The Pittsburgh Press.
In February 1977, Dependable Drive-In Inc. sold 26.4 acres to Regal Development Corp. for $500,000.
The 1952-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Dependable with owners Norbert and Ernest Stern, Assoc. Drive-In Ths., capacity 400. Or maybe they were just the bookers.
The 1952-59 Motion Picture Almanacs had the “Owner or Booker” as Hanna Theatre Service, capacity 400. In the 1961-66 editions, it was Associated Theas.
When ownership info returned in the 1978 edition, the capacity was up to 500 and the owner was R. Glaus. It stayed that way through 1982, then the Dependable was off the MPA list by 1984.
The Tribune-Review said Glaus was 56 in July 2010, which would have made him about 24 in 1978. Maybe that City Paper story meant 1978 instead of 1968.
In 2006, the Pittsburgh City Paper wrote that Rick Glaus was the drive-in’s “operator … who has run the Dependable since 1968”. Starting that fall, he planned to keep the drive-in open all year.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote in 2010 that Rick Glaus “operates the drive-in with his son, Jonathan. The Glaus family bought the Dependable in the late 1960s from original owner Pat Springer.” Some other sources call Rick the son of the original owner.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in 2011 that Rick owned the Dependable, and that he was “a son of the late John Glaus, who managed and owned indoor and outdoor theaters.”
I’m guessing that Jonathan soon became known as Jay, because The Pitt News wrote in 2012 about “Jay Glaus, the 19-year-old manager”.
The Beaver County Times wrote in February 2016 that Jay Glaus was the “general manager”, and the Dependable had just added a 9-hole mini-golf course. A month later, WTAE wrote that Rick was (still) the owner.
In 2012, The Exponent Telegram wrote, “During the past 65 years, (then-manager John) Ellis only knows of one season the Sunset Drive-In wasn’t open.
“Ellis and his wife Norma have been running the Sunset for the past 12 years, helping his older brother Anthony Ellis, who owns both the drive-in and the neighboring Sunset Ellis Restaurant.
“For the 25 years prior to that, Ellis’ brother leased the Sunset Drive-In to Jim Henderson, owner of the Grafton Drive-In, before Ellis and his wife took over.”
That explains the Henderson listing, but now I’m stuck wondering what year the Sunset was closed.
The West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail wrote, “The Sunset Drive-in Theater opened in 1947 … making it the oldest operational drive-in theater in West Virginia. It has been owned by the Ellis family since 1955, along with the adjacent Sunset Ellis Restaurant, which shares its roadside marquee. (Prior to that time, the Ellises had owned another combination drive-in theater and restaurant operation, the Ellis Drive-in, in nearby Bridgeport; it no longer exists.)
When I clicked on Kenmore’s map link today, Google said the address is 2643 Horners Run Rd, Shinnston, WV 26431. Wikipedia says that Meadowbrook is an unincorporated area, yet that’s where my reference books site it 70 years ago. Confusing!
The Sunset was one of just 748 drive-ins in the first Theatre Catalog list in the 1948-49 edition, owned by Alex Silay and Steve Medve, Jr., capacity 400. In 1952, it was Alex Silay and Gray Barker. The 1955-56 edition lists it owned by Ellis Bros. and Joe Feeney.
The 1952-54 editions of the Motion Picture Almanac had the Sunset owned by A. Silay, capacity 400. The 1955-59 editions listed the owners as Silay & Medve. In 1961-66, it was Ellis Bros.
The 1978 MPA bumped the capacity to 500 and changed the owner to A.J. Ellis. Other owner listings:
1980-82: M. Deangelis.
1984: De Angelis.
1986-88: J. Henderson.
There’s a very nice 70th Anniversary video on YouTube.
There’s a very nice story about Warner’s at the West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail web site. Charlie Warner and his son Harold opened the Warner’s Drive-In in April of 1952. More than 50 years later, it was somehow the property of the Franklin Oil Company, which didn’t want to spend the cash to convert it to digital projection, and it closed in 2014.
A group of locals formed a non-profit to refurbish the concession stand, buy a new projector, and reopen Warner’s. It finished its first full season on the new equipment in 2017.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Warner DI owned by Harold Warner, capacity 150.
The first appearance of the Warner in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1953-54 edition. It eventually listed the owner as Harold Warner, capacity 200. By the 1966 edition, it was the Warner Circ.
In the 1978-84 editions, the Warner (still no apostrophe) was owned by M. Warner. It was gone by the 1986 edition.
Collegiate Times wrote in 2012 that the “Starlite was opened in 1953 by Richard and Dorothy Beasley. The two ‘built, owned, and operated the Starlite Theater together for all those years’ before Richard passed away in July of 2009.”
Peggy Beasley was the current owner in that 2012 article, and she’s still the owner in 2017.
The Starlite has radio sound, but they run “a six-speaker sound system sitting atop” the concession / projection building because some folks are afraid of running down their car batteries. Gee whiz, why not spend a little cash on rentable portable radios instead of your lawyer?
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Starlite as owned by R. W. Beasley, capacity 162.
The Starlite’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1955 edition. Again, owned by R. W. Beasley but no capacity figure. It stayed that way through 1966, with an eventual capacity of 150.
When ownership info returned for the 1978-84 editions, the “Starlight” was owned by H.W. Beasley, capacity 300. The drive-in was off the MPA lists by 1986.
Southern Spaces wrote “In 1977, original owner Sonny Stevenson sold the Moon-Glo to the Lyle family, who renamed the theater after its location.”
The Washington Post wrote that Jim and Megan Kopp leased the Raleigh Road in 2006. But Viral Memories and everyone else said they bought it on eBay for $22,000 in 2006.
There’s a short documentary about the Raleigh Road from 2008, featuring Kopp, on YouTube.
The Fay Observer wrote that Mark and Jennifer Frank “bought the place in December 2011. Previously, they owned and operated a drive-in movie theater in Keysville, Virginia, but they sold it to focus on the old facility on the outskirts of Henderson in Vance County.”
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog had the Moon-Glo owned by Ben Strozier, capacity 200. In the 1952-56 Catalogs, the owner was S. S. Stevenson and the capacity had grown to 360.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac matched the Catalogs' owner and capacity. S.S. Stevenson and 360 stayed through the 1976 edition. The 1978 edition called it the Moonglow, capacity 300, still owned by S. Stevenson.
The MPA registered the name change to the Raleigh Road Outdoor in its 1980-88 editions, owner N. T. Lyles.
So the Badin Road was open in mid to late 1948. The first Theatre Catalog drive-in list, in the 1948-49 edition, listed one drive-in in Albemarle as simply “Drive-In.” The 1949-56 Theatre Catalogs had two drive-ins in Albemarle, the Badin Road (by the last edition, capacity 400) and the Albemarle (300), both owned by G. L. Faw.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also had both Albemarle drive-ins. Its difference is that it kept the original half-sized capacities (Badin Road 200, Albemarle 150) through at least 1969. By the 1972 edition, it was Badin Road 600, Albemarle 300.
When owner info returned in the 1978-82 MPAs, both drive-ins listed Exhibitors, and the capacities were down a bit (Badin Road 500, Albemarle 250). Both were owned by Piedmont in the 1984 edition. For 1986-88, the Albemarle was the only one on the list, owned by Piedmont.
The Drive-In Theatre Owners Associate site says the the Badin Road reopened in 1994, which indicates that it was closed before that.
According to The Stanley News and Press, The theater was built by Gilbert Faw and son Raymond. Ethel Faw, Raymond’s wife, said she thought the drive-in first opened in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
“That’s the best I can remember,” Faw said. “Raymond ran the theater until 1966, then he leased it out.”
Faw said after the lease ran out, the theater closed down for a few years.
“My husband passed away in 1991,” Faw said. “I was able to lease the drive-in again in 1993 or 1994.”
In the late ’90s, Martin Murray operated the theater until (David and Judy) Robinson bought it in February 2003.
Roy Speights lives across from the drive-in and remembers when it was first built.
“We moved in our house June 1948,” Speights said. “I remember they were grading for the parking then. The theater must have opened later that summer or fall.”
Georgann Eubanks' wrote in her book Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont: A Guidebook: R.S. (Sam) Gwynn … was born in Eden in 1948. His father ran the drive-in when Gwynn was growing up.
The Theatre Catalogs listed the drive-in under Leaksville. It was in the first list, the 1948-49 edition, as simply Drive-In, Exec: D. L. Craddock, capacity 150. For 1949-50, it was the Eden, the exec was D. E. Gwynn, and capacity grew to 200. In the 1952-56 editions, it was joined in town by the Leaksville Drive-In, also owned by D. E. Gwynn with a capacity of 300.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac listed both drive-ins for Leaksville – the Eden, capacity 282, owned by Eden Theatres Inc.; and the New Leaksville Drive-In, capacity 200, owned by D. E. Gwynn. They both stayed that way through the 1959 edition. In 1961-66 the New Leaksville was owned by Doug Craddock.
When ownership notes resumed in the 1978 MPA, the Eden was listed under the town of Eden and was owned by Consolidate, and that was how it stayed through its last list in 1988. (The New Leaksville dropped out of the MPA after 1976.)
Tim Robertson and his parents, David and Judy, owned the Eden Drive-In, although David passed away in January 2017. Tim told Business North Carolina just last month that his family bought the closed drive-in in 1994 and renovated it.
Over at DailyNetworks.com, Mark Daily writes that “the current Eden Drive-In was originally the Leakesville (sic) Drive-In. A second drive-in previously located near the current Eden Mall site was home of the original Eden Drive-In.”
That would explain how it could handle over 800 cars on a three-night weekend. But I’m not convinced about where the original Eden was; looking at Historic Aerials' old photos and topo maps of the future Eden Mall site, I can’t find anything that looks like a drive-in nearby, except for what’s now the Eden far away on the west side of town.
Apparently this was the location of the old Park Drive-In, which Virginia.org says was open 1954-1983.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists the Park, Exec: William MacKenzie Jr., capacity 200.
The 1955-66 International Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as W. Mackenzie, eventually adding the capacity of 200. The Park fell off the IMPA list after 1976 and did not return.
Jerry Harmon opened the Park Place on the site of the old Park in 2000 and still owns the complex today.
The Skyview’s first appearance in the Theatre Catalog was the 1949-50 edition, Exec: Moir Branscome and Howard Chitwood, no capacity number. For the 1952 edition, the exec was just W. Branscome, capacity 280. In the 1955-56 edition, the exec changed to H. C. Chitwood.
The 1952-55 Motion Picture Almanacs listed it owned by Chitwook (sic) & Branscome, capacity 281. In 1956 it was corrected to Chitwood & Branscome, and it stayed that way through at least 1961. In 1963-66, the owner was Independent Theatres Inc.
The drive-in’s name changed to Skyvue, at least in all the MPA listings after 1976. In the 1978 edition, it was owned by Indep. Thea., capacity 100. The owner in 1980-82 was Shenandoah. The owner in 1984-88 was T. S. Davidson.
The Pipestem opened in September or October 1972. There’s a “Watch for the opening date” ad in the Sept. 21 Beckley Post-Herald, then on Sept. 30 there’s an ad for the triple feature that “starts Thursday, Oct. 5” of Le Mans (G), Lawman (GP), and Southern Comfort (X). It advertised through at least Dec. 17 that year with “free in car heaters”.
The Raleigh Register of July 5, 1973 identified Ronald Warden of MacArthur as the owner of the Pineville and Pipestem drive-ins as part of a discussion of the legality of X-rated movies. Warden said recent Supreme Court ruling hadn’t changed his plans. “It’s not for the money involved,” he said. “It’s not what we like – it’s what the public pays to see. I don’t want to quit a good thing until I have to. Every time I don’t have an X-rated show, business drops off.” He stressed that he always showed X-rated movies as the third feature.
Its first appearance on my shelf of International Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1978 edition. (It wasn’t in 1976, and I don’t have 1977.) The Pipe Stem (sic) was owned by R. Warden and had a capacity of 285. That’s how it stayed through the last IMPA list in 1988.
WTRF wrote in 2015 that (then-?)current owner Kenneth Woody bought the business in 2007 “from the original owner”. … “Woody, the owner of three other Mercer County businesses, said he depends solely on regular customers and word-of-mouth and does no advertising.”
A comment on a Flickr photo said that it “closed for a while” after the early 1980s. That’s the only mention I’ve seen of any downtime; the WTRF report said Woody bought the Pipestem “because he did not want to see it shut down.”
Who owns the Pipestem now? Karen Woody wrote on the drive-in’s semi-official web site that her family owns the Pipestem. The WV Secretary of State shows that Pipestem Drive-In Theater, Inc. was incorporated in 2007, has filed reports through 2017, and its only officers are Kenneth and Barbara Woody. But I’ve seen several business sources online that claim the Pipestem Drive-Inn Theatre is owned by Jimmy Warden, and that its president is Patricia Warden.
In the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog, the only one in Meadow Bridge WV is the N And R D. I., capacity 125, exec N. Garten. That would be Ned Garten, according to a 2013 article in The Register-Herald, copied on the drive-in’s web site.
The 1955-59 Motion Picture Almanacs also called it the N & R, capacity 125, owner Ned Garten. Garten was trying to sell it in June 1958 (see uploaded newspaper ad), which might be why it dropped out of the 1961-76 editions. The drive-in returned by the 1978 edition as the Meadowbridge (sic), owned by B. Hartley, capacity 180. In the 1980-82 editions, the owner changed to L. Thomas. In 1984, it was J. Boyd. By the 1986 edition, the owner was (Howard) McClanahan, who still owns it today.
The 2013 article covered that period as follows. After Garten’s tenure, it was run by Thomas Theaters. “Then one of the shareholders purchased the location outright. Word on the street was that the theater was going to turn X-rated because its screen faced away from the road. That’s when McClanahan stepped in and decided to make an offer.”
The Meadow Bridge converted to digital in 2013, and McClanahan said the new projector cost more than he paid for the drive-in.
Although the Stateline’s About Us page says it opened in 1947, it wasn’t listed in the 1949-50 Theatre Catalog. The 1952-56 editions listed owner Earl B. Bolling, capacity 250.
The 1952-66 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as R. D. Dunn, capacity 246. The 1978-84 editions listed R. (Ray) Glover, 200. The 1986-88 editions (finally?) sort of agreed with the old Catalogs, listing the owner as E. Bolling.
In an article about the history of the city’s indoor theater, the Elizabethton Star wrote that in 1962, Earl Bolling was the owner and operator of the Stateline Drive-In.
An archived 2009 Elizabethton Star article (PDF) wrote, “Now owned by Andy Wetsel (sic) Jr., the Stateline Drive-In was built in 1947. Wetsel purchased the theater from the late Earl Bolling, who owned it from 1952 until the 1970s, and again from 1980 to 1995.”
A 2000 article in American Profile talked to then-owner Andy Whetsel (sic). Andrew “Andy” Wetzel (as it’s spelled by every reference except the previous two) is still the owner as of March 2017.
A 2008 Topix discussion thread, which also included plenty of inflammatory talk of which I have no first-hand knowledge, said that Wetzel is married to the daughter of Bolling’s widow, which is how he acquired the Stateline.
In April 2016, the City of Elizabethton was the highest bidder to acquire the Bonnie Kate.
Here’s its history at that point, shamelessly* copied from the Elizabethton Star:
The first owner was Mrs. Ollie Browning of Bluefield WV in 1926. She lived upstairs above the theater. …
The theater formally opened to a full house on July 4, with a christening by former Governor Alfred Taylor. …
In 1950, Bob Neal, who owned the Ritz Theater downtown, purchased the theater from the Browning family.
In 1962, Earl Bolling, owner and operator of the Stateline Drive-In bought it from Bob Neal. …
In 1973, Ray Glover began managing the theater with his wife, Jeanette, until 1989. Then, they sold it to Leroy and Agnes Policky, who operated it for 15 years.
During the 1970s, a massive sheetrock wall was built to twin the theater, allowing two movies to be shown simultaneously.
In 2004, Leroy Policky sold the theater to Brian and Cindy Higgs, who operated it till 2012.
Since then, it has been without an owner. (Huh? If it was abandoned, then why were folks bidding on it?)
The 1952 Theatre Catalog lists the Sunset owned by Colonial Ths., capacity 300. The 1955-56 edition raised that to 342.
The 1952-63 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Sunset in Swainsville and owned by Colonial Theatres Inc., capacity 300. The MPA said that in 1953 it was the first drive-in for the small chain, based in Valdese NC, then run by general manager G. D. Carpenter. It wasn’t listed in the 1966-69 editions, but returned in Shelby for the 1972-76 editions.
When owner info returned in the 1978-82 editions, the Sunset was still owned by Colonial. For 1984-88, it was owned by Benfield Th.
Modern accounts say that Rick Stinnett, whose family built and ran the Bessemer City Kings Mountain Drive-In until it closed after the 2014 season, bought the Sunset in 1985. He spent $100,000 to remodel and convert the projection room in early 2014.
According to The Fayetteville Observer, the Keysville was reopened (in 2009 I guess) by Mark and Jennifer Frank, but they sold it to focus on a more recent purchase, the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre in Henderson NC.
A lot of news outlets got confused about the Family’s ownership structure. I guess the Wikipedia entry wasn’t around yet.
From The Washington Post, July 26, 2013: “William Dalke Jr. built the Family Drive-in Theatre outside Winchester in 1956 in the midst of an American drive-in building boom. … in time (son Tim) Dalke took over the Family Drive-In. ‘I twinned the screen in 1989 because we could double the product we were offering the public,’ he says. … (Dalke) says that Jim Kopp will be his first option if he ever wants to sell the park”.
From WTOP, August 2012: “owner Jim Kopp … took over the theater three years ago.”
From the Drive-In Theater Adventures blog, August 2013: “In March 2009, Tim Dalke leased the theatre to Jim Kopp (the lease runs for another 7 years).”
The Pittsburgh Press wrote on July 6, 1950 that “The New Dependable Drive-In Theater … opened just a week ago … was heavily damaged” in a flood that caused widespread damage in Moon Township.
The Pittsburgh Press wrote in December 1950 that the Dependable’s “owner”, “president Joseph Marcus, of the Dependable Drive-In, Inc.,” sued DeVry Corp., makers of the film projector, and sales agent D. E. Lovett for selling a bad unit and failing to repair it.
The Daily Courier of Connellsville PA wrote in September 1951 that the Dependable’s owner was Howard C. Benson when it was the victim of a holdup. The armed robber was caught, convicted and sentenced in just three months. Those were the days!
In April 1952, The Pittsburgh Press wrote that the Dependable Corp. had been chartered in 1950 with stock held by three couples – H.C.A. Hofacker and wife Florence, Joseph Marcus and wife Dora, and Robert J. Springer and wife Helen May. The Springers sued the other two couples for leasing the drive-in to Ernest Stern in June 1951. The Moon Drive-In Theater, Inc. “gained control from Mr. Stern” in September 1951.
Robert J. Springer offered a reward in 1955 for whoever shot the tame mallards at the adjoining lake.
In March 1974, neighbors signed petitions against the X-rated movies showing at the Dependable. “Let’s face it – X-rated films are the only thing that saves us,” Rick Glaus, Dependable manager, told The Pittsburgh Press.
In February 1977, Dependable Drive-In Inc. sold 26.4 acres to Regal Development Corp. for $500,000.
The 1952-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Dependable with owners Norbert and Ernest Stern, Assoc. Drive-In Ths., capacity 400. Or maybe they were just the bookers.
The 1952-59 Motion Picture Almanacs had the “Owner or Booker” as Hanna Theatre Service, capacity 400. In the 1961-66 editions, it was Associated Theas.
When ownership info returned in the 1978 edition, the capacity was up to 500 and the owner was R. Glaus. It stayed that way through 1982, then the Dependable was off the MPA list by 1984.
The Tribune-Review said Glaus was 56 in July 2010, which would have made him about 24 in 1978. Maybe that City Paper story meant 1978 instead of 1968.
In 2006, the Pittsburgh City Paper wrote that Rick Glaus was the drive-in’s “operator … who has run the Dependable since 1968”. Starting that fall, he planned to keep the drive-in open all year.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote in 2010 that Rick Glaus “operates the drive-in with his son, Jonathan. The Glaus family bought the Dependable in the late 1960s from original owner Pat Springer.” Some other sources call Rick the son of the original owner.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in 2011 that Rick owned the Dependable, and that he was “a son of the late John Glaus, who managed and owned indoor and outdoor theaters.”
I’m guessing that Jonathan soon became known as Jay, because The Pitt News wrote in 2012 about “Jay Glaus, the 19-year-old manager”.
The Beaver County Times wrote in February 2016 that Jay Glaus was the “general manager”, and the Dependable had just added a 9-hole mini-golf course. A month later, WTAE wrote that Rick was (still) the owner.
It was still open in 2012 as owner Jim Henderson worried about converting to digital, per The Exponent Telegram. I can guess what happened soon after.
Thanks for the first-hand report and photos.
In 2012, The Exponent Telegram wrote, “During the past 65 years, (then-manager John) Ellis only knows of one season the Sunset Drive-In wasn’t open.
“Ellis and his wife Norma have been running the Sunset for the past 12 years, helping his older brother Anthony Ellis, who owns both the drive-in and the neighboring Sunset Ellis Restaurant.
“For the 25 years prior to that, Ellis’ brother leased the Sunset Drive-In to Jim Henderson, owner of the Grafton Drive-In, before Ellis and his wife took over.”
That explains the Henderson listing, but now I’m stuck wondering what year the Sunset was closed.
The West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail wrote, “The Sunset Drive-in Theater opened in 1947 … making it the oldest operational drive-in theater in West Virginia. It has been owned by the Ellis family since 1955, along with the adjacent Sunset Ellis Restaurant, which shares its roadside marquee. (Prior to that time, the Ellises had owned another combination drive-in theater and restaurant operation, the Ellis Drive-in, in nearby Bridgeport; it no longer exists.)
When I clicked on Kenmore’s map link today, Google said the address is 2643 Horners Run Rd, Shinnston, WV 26431. Wikipedia says that Meadowbrook is an unincorporated area, yet that’s where my reference books site it 70 years ago. Confusing!
The Sunset was one of just 748 drive-ins in the first Theatre Catalog list in the 1948-49 edition, owned by Alex Silay and Steve Medve, Jr., capacity 400. In 1952, it was Alex Silay and Gray Barker. The 1955-56 edition lists it owned by Ellis Bros. and Joe Feeney.
The 1952-54 editions of the Motion Picture Almanac had the Sunset owned by A. Silay, capacity 400. The 1955-59 editions listed the owners as Silay & Medve. In 1961-66, it was Ellis Bros.
The 1978 MPA bumped the capacity to 500 and changed the owner to A.J. Ellis. Other owner listings: 1980-82: M. Deangelis. 1984: De Angelis. 1986-88: J. Henderson.
There’s a very nice 70th Anniversary video on YouTube.
There’s a very nice story about Warner’s at the West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail web site. Charlie Warner and his son Harold opened the Warner’s Drive-In in April of 1952. More than 50 years later, it was somehow the property of the Franklin Oil Company, which didn’t want to spend the cash to convert it to digital projection, and it closed in 2014.
A group of locals formed a non-profit to refurbish the concession stand, buy a new projector, and reopen Warner’s. It finished its first full season on the new equipment in 2017.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Warner DI owned by Harold Warner, capacity 150.
The first appearance of the Warner in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1953-54 edition. It eventually listed the owner as Harold Warner, capacity 200. By the 1966 edition, it was the Warner Circ.
In the 1978-84 editions, the Warner (still no apostrophe) was owned by M. Warner. It was gone by the 1986 edition.
Collegiate Times wrote in 2012 that the “Starlite was opened in 1953 by Richard and Dorothy Beasley. The two ‘built, owned, and operated the Starlite Theater together for all those years’ before Richard passed away in July of 2009.”
Peggy Beasley was the current owner in that 2012 article, and she’s still the owner in 2017.
The Starlite has radio sound, but they run “a six-speaker sound system sitting atop” the concession / projection building because some folks are afraid of running down their car batteries. Gee whiz, why not spend a little cash on rentable portable radios instead of your lawyer?
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Starlite as owned by R. W. Beasley, capacity 162.
The Starlite’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1955 edition. Again, owned by R. W. Beasley but no capacity figure. It stayed that way through 1966, with an eventual capacity of 150.
When ownership info returned for the 1978-84 editions, the “Starlight” was owned by H.W. Beasley, capacity 300. The drive-in was off the MPA lists by 1986.
More recently:
Southern Spaces wrote “In 1977, original owner Sonny Stevenson sold the Moon-Glo to the Lyle family, who renamed the theater after its location.”
The Washington Post wrote that Jim and Megan Kopp leased the Raleigh Road in 2006. But Viral Memories and everyone else said they bought it on eBay for $22,000 in 2006.
There’s a short documentary about the Raleigh Road from 2008, featuring Kopp, on YouTube.
The Fay Observer wrote that Mark and Jennifer Frank “bought the place in December 2011. Previously, they owned and operated a drive-in movie theater in Keysville, Virginia, but they sold it to focus on the old facility on the outskirts of Henderson in Vance County.”
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog had the Moon-Glo owned by Ben Strozier, capacity 200. In the 1952-56 Catalogs, the owner was S. S. Stevenson and the capacity had grown to 360.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac matched the Catalogs' owner and capacity. S.S. Stevenson and 360 stayed through the 1976 edition. The 1978 edition called it the Moonglow, capacity 300, still owned by S. Stevenson.
The MPA registered the name change to the Raleigh Road Outdoor in its 1980-88 editions, owner N. T. Lyles.
So the Badin Road was open in mid to late 1948. The first Theatre Catalog drive-in list, in the 1948-49 edition, listed one drive-in in Albemarle as simply “Drive-In.” The 1949-56 Theatre Catalogs had two drive-ins in Albemarle, the Badin Road (by the last edition, capacity 400) and the Albemarle (300), both owned by G. L. Faw.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also had both Albemarle drive-ins. Its difference is that it kept the original half-sized capacities (Badin Road 200, Albemarle 150) through at least 1969. By the 1972 edition, it was Badin Road 600, Albemarle 300.
When owner info returned in the 1978-82 MPAs, both drive-ins listed Exhibitors, and the capacities were down a bit (Badin Road 500, Albemarle 250). Both were owned by Piedmont in the 1984 edition. For 1986-88, the Albemarle was the only one on the list, owned by Piedmont.
The Drive-In Theatre Owners Associate site says the the Badin Road reopened in 1994, which indicates that it was closed before that.
According to The Stanley News and Press, The theater was built by Gilbert Faw and son Raymond. Ethel Faw, Raymond’s wife, said she thought the drive-in first opened in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
“That’s the best I can remember,” Faw said. “Raymond ran the theater until 1966, then he leased it out.”
Faw said after the lease ran out, the theater closed down for a few years.
“My husband passed away in 1991,” Faw said. “I was able to lease the drive-in again in 1993 or 1994.”
In the late ’90s, Martin Murray operated the theater until (David and Judy) Robinson bought it in February 2003.
Roy Speights lives across from the drive-in and remembers when it was first built.
“We moved in our house June 1948,” Speights said. “I remember they were grading for the parking then. The theater must have opened later that summer or fall.”
Georgann Eubanks' wrote in her book Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont: A Guidebook: R.S. (Sam) Gwynn … was born in Eden in 1948. His father ran the drive-in when Gwynn was growing up.
The Theatre Catalogs listed the drive-in under Leaksville. It was in the first list, the 1948-49 edition, as simply Drive-In, Exec: D. L. Craddock, capacity 150. For 1949-50, it was the Eden, the exec was D. E. Gwynn, and capacity grew to 200. In the 1952-56 editions, it was joined in town by the Leaksville Drive-In, also owned by D. E. Gwynn with a capacity of 300.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac listed both drive-ins for Leaksville – the Eden, capacity 282, owned by Eden Theatres Inc.; and the New Leaksville Drive-In, capacity 200, owned by D. E. Gwynn. They both stayed that way through the 1959 edition. In 1961-66 the New Leaksville was owned by Doug Craddock.
When ownership notes resumed in the 1978 MPA, the Eden was listed under the town of Eden and was owned by Consolidate, and that was how it stayed through its last list in 1988. (The New Leaksville dropped out of the MPA after 1976.)
Tim Robertson and his parents, David and Judy, owned the Eden Drive-In, although David passed away in January 2017. Tim told Business North Carolina just last month that his family bought the closed drive-in in 1994 and renovated it.
Over at DailyNetworks.com, Mark Daily writes that “the current Eden Drive-In was originally the Leakesville (sic) Drive-In. A second drive-in previously located near the current Eden Mall site was home of the original Eden Drive-In.”
That would explain how it could handle over 800 cars on a three-night weekend. But I’m not convinced about where the original Eden was; looking at Historic Aerials' old photos and topo maps of the future Eden Mall site, I can’t find anything that looks like a drive-in nearby, except for what’s now the Eden far away on the west side of town.
Apparently this was the location of the old Park Drive-In, which Virginia.org says was open 1954-1983.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists the Park, Exec: William MacKenzie Jr., capacity 200.
The 1955-66 International Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as W. Mackenzie, eventually adding the capacity of 200. The Park fell off the IMPA list after 1976 and did not return.
Jerry Harmon opened the Park Place on the site of the old Park in 2000 and still owns the complex today.
The Skyview’s first appearance in the Theatre Catalog was the 1949-50 edition, Exec: Moir Branscome and Howard Chitwood, no capacity number. For the 1952 edition, the exec was just W. Branscome, capacity 280. In the 1955-56 edition, the exec changed to H. C. Chitwood.
The 1952-55 Motion Picture Almanacs listed it owned by Chitwook (sic) & Branscome, capacity 281. In 1956 it was corrected to Chitwood & Branscome, and it stayed that way through at least 1961. In 1963-66, the owner was Independent Theatres Inc.
The drive-in’s name changed to Skyvue, at least in all the MPA listings after 1976. In the 1978 edition, it was owned by Indep. Thea., capacity 100. The owner in 1980-82 was Shenandoah. The owner in 1984-88 was T. S. Davidson.
The Pipestem opened in September or October 1972. There’s a “Watch for the opening date” ad in the Sept. 21 Beckley Post-Herald, then on Sept. 30 there’s an ad for the triple feature that “starts Thursday, Oct. 5” of Le Mans (G), Lawman (GP), and Southern Comfort (X). It advertised through at least Dec. 17 that year with “free in car heaters”.
The Raleigh Register of July 5, 1973 identified Ronald Warden of MacArthur as the owner of the Pineville and Pipestem drive-ins as part of a discussion of the legality of X-rated movies. Warden said recent Supreme Court ruling hadn’t changed his plans. “It’s not for the money involved,” he said. “It’s not what we like – it’s what the public pays to see. I don’t want to quit a good thing until I have to. Every time I don’t have an X-rated show, business drops off.” He stressed that he always showed X-rated movies as the third feature.
Its first appearance on my shelf of International Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1978 edition. (It wasn’t in 1976, and I don’t have 1977.) The Pipe Stem (sic) was owned by R. Warden and had a capacity of 285. That’s how it stayed through the last IMPA list in 1988.
WTRF wrote in 2015 that (then-?)current owner Kenneth Woody bought the business in 2007 “from the original owner”. … “Woody, the owner of three other Mercer County businesses, said he depends solely on regular customers and word-of-mouth and does no advertising.”
A comment on a Flickr photo said that it “closed for a while” after the early 1980s. That’s the only mention I’ve seen of any downtime; the WTRF report said Woody bought the Pipestem “because he did not want to see it shut down.”
Who owns the Pipestem now? Karen Woody wrote on the drive-in’s semi-official web site that her family owns the Pipestem. The WV Secretary of State shows that Pipestem Drive-In Theater, Inc. was incorporated in 2007, has filed reports through 2017, and its only officers are Kenneth and Barbara Woody. But I’ve seen several business sources online that claim the Pipestem Drive-Inn Theatre is owned by Jimmy Warden, and that its president is Patricia Warden.
In the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog, the only one in Meadow Bridge WV is the N And R D. I., capacity 125, exec N. Garten. That would be Ned Garten, according to a 2013 article in The Register-Herald, copied on the drive-in’s web site.
The 1955-59 Motion Picture Almanacs also called it the N & R, capacity 125, owner Ned Garten. Garten was trying to sell it in June 1958 (see uploaded newspaper ad), which might be why it dropped out of the 1961-76 editions. The drive-in returned by the 1978 edition as the Meadowbridge (sic), owned by B. Hartley, capacity 180. In the 1980-82 editions, the owner changed to L. Thomas. In 1984, it was J. Boyd. By the 1986 edition, the owner was (Howard) McClanahan, who still owns it today.
The 2013 article covered that period as follows. After Garten’s tenure, it was run by Thomas Theaters. “Then one of the shareholders purchased the location outright. Word on the street was that the theater was going to turn X-rated because its screen faced away from the road. That’s when McClanahan stepped in and decided to make an offer.”
The Meadow Bridge converted to digital in 2013, and McClanahan said the new projector cost more than he paid for the drive-in.