Kennerado, I agree. I suggest the address of Louisiana 1148 & Union Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, as that at least touches the property, even if its away from what was the entrance. The current access road to the property is now on Union Street.
From its appearance in the 1962 aerial, it looks like it had been demolished several years earlier. You can see the substantial growth of trees on the property. So, it doesn’t look like it lasted past 1956.
88 Pinnacle Avenue is the current location of the Pinnacle Drive-In which is a small eating establishment. A 1967 aerial photo shows buildings on that location as well, so I do not believe there was a drive-in theater there.
The drive-in should be on the aerial photo, but I have not found it. That only means that I cannot see it, but given the location it must have been a small drive-in.
A 1981 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. The land sat unused for about two decades when N Grove Street was put in to the north of the drive-in location.
Today, the property is part of the Dr. Glen Dev Park. In a 2017 aerial, you can even see the faint hint of ramps, although it does not appear in the latest Google aerial view.
I can find no indication of a drive-in with a 1962 aerial. So, it’s either really far away from the town or had a very short run and was totally demolished and replaced to make it unrecognizable as a drive-in.
A new projection booth/concession stand would have to be built along with installing new electrical services. Otherwise, some landscaping is needed along with screen maintenance if someone wanted to reopen it.
I’m not seeing how this can be re-opened since the entrance road is now a driveway for a home that sits on the north side. It would take some major renovation, including a new screen and widening the existing access, to reopen this drive-in.
A drive-in with a 300 car capacity seems awfully large for small towns and hilly countryside, let alone 450+.
A 1963 topo map reveals nothing and neither does a 1968 aerial photo. If it did exist, it is either quite far away from Garberville or it was demolished immediately so that the area was unrecognizable as a drive-in. Or perhaps we have the wrong Garberville.
In any case, some more info to at least narrow down its location would be nice.
Actually, almost all of the drive-in is gone. You can only see a faint outline of the drive-in behind the Country Inn & Suites.
The lines just to the west that reach to 31st Street SE are from an auto salvage yard that was built on the property after the drive-in had closed. The salvage yard is closed and the building demolished.
Either the bridge will have to be fixed or an access road cut behind the bridge. Coming from the other direction would create a substantial mess.
Unless they cut a deal with the VFW to allow access through their parking area. It would help with the overflow of traffic, but the VFW would have to be convinced to do it.
It seems to have closed long before the mid-1970s, at least at the 1400 Natchitoches St. location. A 1955 aerial shows a drive-in, but in 1969 I-20 occupies most of the land with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The address was 212 Briley Ave, Opelousas, LA. The drive-in was located north of Opelousas. A 1969 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. I’m pretty sure this is the drive-in since the exit road is now called “Midway Exit Drive”.
The drive-in was somewhat unusual as a row of houses sat between the entrance and the HWY 182. So technically, the entrance address would be at the end of Briley Avenue and not from the highway itself.
Today, a business sits on the property with no trace left.
After comparing the site with a 1967 aerial photo, it appears that the projection booth/concession stand has a new roof.
The ticket booth is another matter since the small building near the road did not exist in the ‘67 photo as the screen was on that spot. That small structure does not appear until a 2003 aerial.
It does appear that a ticket booth sat just to the south of the screen in the ‘67 photo, but it was gone along with the screen by 1982.
Although the overhead on Google Maps still shows the ramps, the street view shows that houses have been built on the site. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is US-385 & Co Rd 310, Littlefield, TX.
The property sat just to the south of the intersection on the east side of US-385. Today, it is private property, but you can still make out the remnants of the ramps in the back.
A 1993 aerial shows the ramps, but the drive-in had been closed for a considerable length of time. Sometime after 2012, the land was finally purchased and transformed. Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 27734 NY-12, Watertown, New York
Today, you can still see the remains of the outline, ramps, entrance and exit roads, and the snack bar/projection booth is still somewhat intact, although in pretty bad shape.
A 2005 aerial photo shows the Sagewood Apartments in place, so it appears the demolition took place at least a few years before that, probably more.
The only trace of the drive-in remaining is the entrance road on the south side.
Kennerado, I agree. I suggest the address of Louisiana 1148 & Union Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, as that at least touches the property, even if its away from what was the entrance. The current access road to the property is now on Union Street.
From its appearance in the 1962 aerial, it looks like it had been demolished several years earlier. You can see the substantial growth of trees on the property. So, it doesn’t look like it lasted past 1956.
The address may not be correct.
88 Pinnacle Avenue is the current location of the Pinnacle Drive-In which is a small eating establishment. A 1967 aerial photo shows buildings on that location as well, so I do not believe there was a drive-in theater there.
The drive-in should be on the aerial photo, but I have not found it. That only means that I cannot see it, but given the location it must have been a small drive-in.
A 1981 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. The land sat unused for about two decades when N Grove Street was put in to the north of the drive-in location.
Today, the property is part of the Dr. Glen Dev Park. In a 2017 aerial, you can even see the faint hint of ramps, although it does not appear in the latest Google aerial view.
A closer address is E 1090 Rd & Old Hwy 69, Checotah, OK. The address currently listed has E 1900 which is not correct.
I can find no indication of a drive-in with a 1962 aerial. So, it’s either really far away from the town or had a very short run and was totally demolished and replaced to make it unrecognizable as a drive-in.
Or, I just can’t see it. Probably the latter… ;)
A closer address is 2061 US-51, Fulton, KY.
This address lines up with the entrance to the cemetery which appears to be the entrance to the old drive-in.
https://tinyurl.com/3v28szwa
A new projection booth/concession stand would have to be built along with installing new electrical services. Otherwise, some landscaping is needed along with screen maintenance if someone wanted to reopen it.
I’m not seeing how this can be re-opened since the entrance road is now a driveway for a home that sits on the north side. It would take some major renovation, including a new screen and widening the existing access, to reopen this drive-in.
Something is happening to the property as a February 2020 Google Street View shows considerable clearing going on.
Google maps show the drive-in has been demolished and replaced with a housing edition.
The only reminder is the main street is named “Airline Drive”.
A drive-in with a 300 car capacity seems awfully large for small towns and hilly countryside, let alone 450+.
A 1963 topo map reveals nothing and neither does a 1968 aerial photo. If it did exist, it is either quite far away from Garberville or it was demolished immediately so that the area was unrecognizable as a drive-in. Or perhaps we have the wrong Garberville.
In any case, some more info to at least narrow down its location would be nice.
Actually, almost all of the drive-in is gone. You can only see a faint outline of the drive-in behind the Country Inn & Suites.
The lines just to the west that reach to 31st Street SE are from an auto salvage yard that was built on the property after the drive-in had closed. The salvage yard is closed and the building demolished.
Either the bridge will have to be fixed or an access road cut behind the bridge. Coming from the other direction would create a substantial mess.
Unless they cut a deal with the VFW to allow access through their parking area. It would help with the overflow of traffic, but the VFW would have to be convinced to do it.
It seems to have closed long before the mid-1970s, at least at the 1400 Natchitoches St. location. A 1955 aerial shows a drive-in, but in 1969 I-20 occupies most of the land with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The drive-in appears intact in a 1983 aerial photo, although that is not an indication it was open.
By 1993, it was completely demolished with virtually all traces removed. Today, most of the land is still open.
Found It!
The address was 212 Briley Ave, Opelousas, LA. The drive-in was located north of Opelousas. A 1969 aerial shows the drive-in demolished. I’m pretty sure this is the drive-in since the exit road is now called “Midway Exit Drive”.
The drive-in was somewhat unusual as a row of houses sat between the entrance and the HWY 182. So technically, the entrance address would be at the end of Briley Avenue and not from the highway itself.
Today, a business sits on the property with no trace left.
tinyurl.com/1muf6kwp
After comparing the site with a 1967 aerial photo, it appears that the projection booth/concession stand has a new roof.
The ticket booth is another matter since the small building near the road did not exist in the ‘67 photo as the screen was on that spot. That small structure does not appear until a 2003 aerial.
It does appear that a ticket booth sat just to the south of the screen in the ‘67 photo, but it was gone along with the screen by 1982.
A closer address is 4572 Old State Hwy 95, Lake Havasu City, AZ.
A 1981 aerial shows the drive-in intact, but by 1992 it had been demolished.
Today, it is an empty field with the feint remains of the ramps and foundations of the screen and projection booth/concession stand remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/y7t6kcdy
You can still make out the faint hint of ramps and where the concession stand/projection booth once stood.
Although the overhead on Google Maps still shows the ramps, the street view shows that houses have been built on the site. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is US-385 & Co Rd 310, Littlefield, TX.
The property sat just to the south of the intersection on the east side of US-385. Today, it is private property, but you can still make out the remnants of the ramps in the back.
A closer address is Co Rd 181 & FM 54, Littlefield, Texas. This is about ¼ west of the drive-in which sat on the north side of FM-54.
For some reason, Google Maps does not like to include “Littlefield” in the address.
A 1993 aerial shows the ramps, but the drive-in had been closed for a considerable length of time. Sometime after 2012, the land was finally purchased and transformed. Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 27734 NY-12, Watertown, New York
Today, you can still see the remains of the outline, ramps, entrance and exit roads, and the snack bar/projection booth is still somewhat intact, although in pretty bad shape.
https://tinyurl.com/y5h9pk5n