Porterville Drive-In
155 N. Newcomb Avenue,
Porterville,
CA
93257
155 N. Newcomb Avenue,
Porterville,
CA
93257
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The 484-car capacity Drive-In opened on May 18, 1950 with Humphrey Bogart in “Tokyo Joe”. It was operated by C.N. Spivey & Verne Schwin. It later became a twin screen drive-in with a capacity for 550 cars. It was closed at the end of the 2004 season with the Disney animated feature “Home on the Range”.
The site is a vacant plot in 2025.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Here is a photo of another theater in Porterville. This must have been a happening town:
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The name of the theater in the second photo was the Monache:
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This drive-in was owned by the same family throughout its run, 1950-2004. But they leased it out at other times. Although there was vandalsim in the snack bar, they left the projectors alone. As noted in the 4th photo link from Chuck1231, the perimeter fence didn’t last very long. Other web searches have neighbors calling it an eysore after it sat vacant for many years afterward.
Was there ever a second drive-in the Porterville or am I dreaming?
no i don’t think so and anyway it’s now an empty lot should be listed as demolished.
The drive-in was still intact enough on Feb. 4, 2006 that a murdered woman was found in a storage building there. YourCentralValley.com wrote yesterday that the culprit had just been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porterville drive-in, Porterville; the Palo Alto drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in, San Mateo.”
Although the lot is still mostly empty with the outline and ramps of the drive-in remaining. That may not last long as a sign near where the old entrance was once located states “Future building site for Burton School District”.
Opened with Humphrey Bogart in “Tokyo Joe” (unknown if extras added).
As of a March 2025 Google Street View, nothing has been built yet on the property.