The Plaza 3 was clipped by a tornado on December 5th, 1975. It was an unusual tornado not only because it happened during the winter, but also because the sky behind it cleared. So, as the tornado was tearing up the neighborhood just to the north of the Plaza 3, the sun was shining on it.
I agree with Michael Kilgore that the address he mentions seems like the only candidate to hold a drive-in anywhere near the town.
The 1951 and 1963 topo maps indicate that at least part of that land had buildings on it. Perhaps the same buildings that are on the south side of the maintenance area today.
There are also three buildings indicated on the north side and a trail that cuts across the river (a ford) which can be seen in the 1968 photo. That reduces the area to hold a drive-in considerably.
Now, consider a 500 car capacity drive-in for a town and surrounding communities within a 20 mile radius that doesn’t add up to 5,000 residents today? That seems incredibly excessive.
Plus, the entire maintenance area doesn’t appear to be able to hold more than 200 cars at best, even if you remove the buildings.
Something is off. If this location did have a drive-in, it would have to be 200 car capacity or less given how little land seems available. And, I’m not sure what other location exists anywhere near the town that could hold more.
A closer address is 681 Rockingham Road, Bellows Falls, VT.
The entrance of the drive-in is where the Northstar Self-Storage is located. A smaller business sits where the screen was located. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Today, the property is owned by Cooperative Propane. The area itself is mostly empty with a few large and many small propane tanks on the lot.
The land itself appears to have been plowed or resurfaced sometime between 1967 and 1981, so the ramps are gone. The drive-in does retain its basic shape and there are remnants of the entrance and exit roads. Also, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand is still present in the overhead view of Google Maps.
Overgrown with trees is right. The only remnant visible is what’s left of the entrance road and an old, rather sad mailbox that probably hasn’t been used in a long, long time.
If the topo maps are accurate, the drive-in was located about 2 miles SW of the town at 802 GA-26, Cochran, GA.
The area in which the drive-in was located is overgrown with trees and has been that way since at least 1981. From the 1981 aerial, I can see the vague shape of the drive-in and entrance/exit roads.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Route 512 at Bath Boro line puts it across the street from the storage center. The address from Google Maps is (as close as I can get it) 34l N Walnut Street, Bath, PA.
A 1955 aerial shows the general shape of a drive-in, but no ramps and it’s difficult to see any real features. It has what might be a projection booth, but I cannot see any screen.
Today, the land is private property with a house on the SW corner. The rest of the property is overgrown with trees.
If this was a drive-in, it appears to have been abandoned by 1955 or perhaps it was a portable drive-in which might explain the lack of features.
Muviebuf, you say it’s on the right side Route 512 a quarter-mile north of Bath Pike?
That would put it near Barrall Street.
I’ve looked at aerials from 1955, 1962, and 1972 and have not seen anything that looks remotely like a drive-in. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the drive-in didn’t exist. I’m just not seeing it.
A 1955 aerial photo does not reveal any evidence of a drive-in around the Bath area. It would be helpful to have the address or at least a general direction of where the drive-in was located.
Perhaps this was a portable drive-in, but if so the screen should be set up somewhere or at least evidence of tire marks in a field.
Considering how the ramps have faded, the size of the two trees near what is left of the concession stand/projector booth, And a 1981 aerial that shows many more trees on the property, this drive-in has been closed for some time.
The address is 6150 US Hwy 136 Suite 1, Hebron, NE.
This is the entrance to the airport which is where the drive-in was located. The drive-in itself is basically gone as it has been plowed up and landscaped. Some faint marks of the ramps may still be discerned, but just barely.
10065 U.S. 129, Live Oak, FL places it right on the property at least with Google Maps.
Today, an empty building sits on the east side of the property, but most of the drive-in is overgrown with trees. The screens are gone, but the projection booths may or may not be standing.
The property is now an open field. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining except for the remnants of the entrance road on the south side of the property.
Based on the aerial photos, the address is further north up the road.
The entrance was located approximately at 3330 US-29, Valley, AL.
This lines up close to the entrance of Advance Auto Parts. Most of the drive-in is occupied by an large, empty building that is for sale. Although this building is indicated on the Google map to be Valley Baptist Church.
All that is left of the old drive-in are some of the trees that lined the back fence which is now behind Renasant Bank.
For being 17 acres and holding up to 200 cars, that’s a substantial piece of property. I do not believe the small rectangular cutout is large enough to hold 50 cars, much less 200.
A possible location is further west on HWY 129 just past Boyette Road where in 1967 it was an auto salvage yard. It was abandoned by 1971 and today is a residential area. It has the size and general shape to qualify. Plus, drive-ins becoming auto salvage yards is common enough, especially well outside of town.
The remnants of the drive-in remained until at least 2010, but by 2013 a detention center had been constructed on the property. There are no traces of the drive-in remaining.
We are going to have to disagree, Dansdriveintheater.
The current Google overhead view shows no evidence of ramps, only some vestige crop marks that do not line up with the ramps seen in previous aerial photos. What does appear falls considerably short and somewhat out of alignment.
So, it’s clearly been plowed up and resurfaced, much like the site of the Hillcrest Drive-In in OKC.
The ramps are still there, at least in the latest overhead view from Google Maps. But the screen is gone, either removed or it just disintegrated given how poor a condition it was in.
The Plaza 3 was clipped by a tornado on December 5th, 1975. It was an unusual tornado not only because it happened during the winter, but also because the sky behind it cleared. So, as the tornado was tearing up the neighborhood just to the north of the Plaza 3, the sun was shining on it.
It appears from the overhead view on Google Maps that the screen has been removed.
I agree with Michael Kilgore that the address he mentions seems like the only candidate to hold a drive-in anywhere near the town.
The 1951 and 1963 topo maps indicate that at least part of that land had buildings on it. Perhaps the same buildings that are on the south side of the maintenance area today.
There are also three buildings indicated on the north side and a trail that cuts across the river (a ford) which can be seen in the 1968 photo. That reduces the area to hold a drive-in considerably.
Now, consider a 500 car capacity drive-in for a town and surrounding communities within a 20 mile radius that doesn’t add up to 5,000 residents today? That seems incredibly excessive.
Plus, the entire maintenance area doesn’t appear to be able to hold more than 200 cars at best, even if you remove the buildings.
Something is off. If this location did have a drive-in, it would have to be 200 car capacity or less given how little land seems available. And, I’m not sure what other location exists anywhere near the town that could hold more.
A closer address is 681 Rockingham Road, Bellows Falls, VT.
The entrance of the drive-in is where the Northstar Self-Storage is located. A smaller business sits where the screen was located. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
So, the address needs to be changed to 31022 US-84, Opp, AL.
Today, the property is owned by Cooperative Propane. The area itself is mostly empty with a few large and many small propane tanks on the lot.
The land itself appears to have been plowed or resurfaced sometime between 1967 and 1981, so the ramps are gone. The drive-in does retain its basic shape and there are remnants of the entrance and exit roads. Also, the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand is still present in the overhead view of Google Maps.
Overgrown with trees is right. The only remnant visible is what’s left of the entrance road and an old, rather sad mailbox that probably hasn’t been used in a long, long time.
A closer address is 11040 FL-97, McDavid, Florida.
The drive-in was located close to the intersection of FL-97 and Greenland Road sitting near the NE corner. It’s remnants can be seen in a 1981 aerial.
Today, the property is covered with trees with no remains of the drive-in visible.
https://tinyurl.com/zufkn4
If the topo maps are accurate, the drive-in was located about 2 miles SW of the town at 802 GA-26, Cochran, GA.
The area in which the drive-in was located is overgrown with trees and has been that way since at least 1981. From the 1981 aerial, I can see the vague shape of the drive-in and entrance/exit roads.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Route 512 at Bath Boro line puts it across the street from the storage center. The address from Google Maps is (as close as I can get it) 34l N Walnut Street, Bath, PA.
A 1955 aerial shows the general shape of a drive-in, but no ramps and it’s difficult to see any real features. It has what might be a projection booth, but I cannot see any screen.
Today, the land is private property with a house on the SW corner. The rest of the property is overgrown with trees.
If this was a drive-in, it appears to have been abandoned by 1955 or perhaps it was a portable drive-in which might explain the lack of features.
Muviebuf, you say it’s on the right side Route 512 a quarter-mile north of Bath Pike?
That would put it near Barrall Street.
I’ve looked at aerials from 1955, 1962, and 1972 and have not seen anything that looks remotely like a drive-in. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the drive-in didn’t exist. I’m just not seeing it.
A 1955 aerial photo does not reveal any evidence of a drive-in around the Bath area. It would be helpful to have the address or at least a general direction of where the drive-in was located.
Perhaps this was a portable drive-in, but if so the screen should be set up somewhere or at least evidence of tire marks in a field.
Considering how the ramps have faded, the size of the two trees near what is left of the concession stand/projector booth, And a 1981 aerial that shows many more trees on the property, this drive-in has been closed for some time.
The address is 6150 US Hwy 136 Suite 1, Hebron, NE.
This is the entrance to the airport which is where the drive-in was located. The drive-in itself is basically gone as it has been plowed up and landscaped. Some faint marks of the ramps may still be discerned, but just barely.
https://tinyurl.com/2u2d4wv8
10065 U.S. 129, Live Oak, FL places it right on the property at least with Google Maps.
Today, an empty building sits on the east side of the property, but most of the drive-in is overgrown with trees. The screens are gone, but the projection booths may or may not be standing.
The property is now an open field. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining except for the remnants of the entrance road on the south side of the property.
Based on the aerial photos, the address is further north up the road.
The entrance was located approximately at 3330 US-29, Valley, AL.
This lines up close to the entrance of Advance Auto Parts. Most of the drive-in is occupied by an large, empty building that is for sale. Although this building is indicated on the Google map to be Valley Baptist Church.
All that is left of the old drive-in are some of the trees that lined the back fence which is now behind Renasant Bank.
https://tinyurl.com/sehuacc3
For being 17 acres and holding up to 200 cars, that’s a substantial piece of property. I do not believe the small rectangular cutout is large enough to hold 50 cars, much less 200.
A possible location is further west on HWY 129 just past Boyette Road where in 1967 it was an auto salvage yard. It was abandoned by 1971 and today is a residential area. It has the size and general shape to qualify. Plus, drive-ins becoming auto salvage yards is common enough, especially well outside of town.
It appears this drive-in closed a long time ago, possibly in the 1960s Since it appears on a 1959 topo map, but is gone by 1972.
It also has changed little since its demolition as a 1981 aerial photo shows it in about the same condition as today, forty years later.
The remnants of the drive-in remained until at least 2010, but by 2013 a detention center had been constructed on the property. There are no traces of the drive-in remaining.
A 1991 aerial shows the remnants of the drive-in. It appears to be quite large.
The drive-in sat further east near Monkey Junction. The address is 5309 Carolina Beach Rd Ste 4, Wilmington, NC.
The drive-in was operational in a 1956 aerial photo. But the 1969 aerial photo shows it was demolished. The land remained empty until at least 1983.
Today, a Dollar Tree and Lowe’s Foods of Carolina Beach sits on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/c8sved49
From the aerial photographs, it went from a drive-in in 2004 to Price Chopper in 2005.
We are going to have to disagree, Dansdriveintheater.
The current Google overhead view shows no evidence of ramps, only some vestige crop marks that do not line up with the ramps seen in previous aerial photos. What does appear falls considerably short and somewhat out of alignment.
So, it’s clearly been plowed up and resurfaced, much like the site of the Hillcrest Drive-In in OKC.
The ramps are still there, at least in the latest overhead view from Google Maps. But the screen is gone, either removed or it just disintegrated given how poor a condition it was in.