Palmer Drive-In
98 Richmond Road,
Irvine,
KY
40336
98 Richmond Road,
Irvine,
KY
40336
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Additional Info
Previous Names: New Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
Palmer & Taylor started the first drive-in in Irvine first advertising as the New Drive-In on October 2, 1947 with Linda Darnell in “The Great John L”. The venue was just South of the Irvine Bridge at the corner of Richmond Road and South Irvine Road. They appear to have closed for the season on November 12, 1947 with “Phantom of Santa Fe”.
They have a number of events on the lot in 1948 including a carnival and a live appearance by Bill Monroe. The New Irvine Drive-in reopened for the season on May 13, 1948 with Edward J. Nugent in “Kentucky Bluestreak”. It is likely called informally, Palmer’s Drive-In, by locals but in the 1948-1949 edition of Theatre Catalog it is listed as the 200-car capacity Palmer Drive-In, operated by J.T. Palmer. The venue doesn’t appear to have opened for the 1949 season. This is likely a theatre that used a single loud speaker and, possibly, an “informal” screen tower.
A more traditional, new-build drive-in by Judge McClanahan - operator of the Estill Theatre turned Mack Theatre - was opened in West Irvine not far away called the Mack Drive-In in 1955 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures)
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The South Irving Bridge crosses Station Camp Creek, not the Kentucky River. The address is too far north.
Plus, a 1950 aerial shows an open, undeveloped field at the 98 Richmond Road address.
Further south next to the South Irving Bridge shows what appears to be a couple of small buildings, but nothing that indicated a drive-in sat in that location.
Now, this could have been a temporary drive-in with all the structures removed after the 1948 season. Given that the property appears to be a fairgrounds, that’s a possibility.