Silver Moon Drive-In

4100 New Tampa Highway,
Lakeland, FL 33815

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Related Websites

Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Floyd Theaters

Functions: Movies (First Run), Swap Meet

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 863.682.0849

Nearby Theaters

Silver Moon Drive-In

Located at the junction of New Tampa Highway and Gay Road. The Silver Moon Drive-In opened April 14, 1948 with a capacity for 372 cars. By 1956 it was operated by Floyd Theaters. In 1985, a second screen was added to the drive-in.

Contributed by Lost Memory

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

Richard Wheeler
Richard Wheeler on July 4, 2011 at 9:14 pm

I have come across a photo of a playbill for the Harlem Drive-In Theatre that was located “1-½ miles west of Lakeland off New Tampa Highway”. It stated that it was “for colored patrons”. The period appears to be mid-1950s. Is that the same theatre as the Silver Moon?

AndyCallahanMajorMajor
AndyCallahanMajorMajor on July 5, 2011 at 3:22 am

I highly doubt it. The Silver Moon’s website says nothing about it ever switching over to being a negro theater. Sounds like you might’ve found a new drive-in.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on July 5, 2011 at 6:47 pm

The problem withth is theater like any of the theaters in the Floyd theater chain is the screens are not wide enough to show movies in scope so the pictures goes off the screen and into the bushes. A waster of my money if I can’t see a film in scope the way it was meant to be seen.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on July 5, 2011 at 8:29 pm

Valley Drive-in in Aiken County,S.C. was the same way according to projectionists most of the movie was in “the pine trees!”

FloridaDriveIns
FloridaDriveIns on November 26, 2011 at 11:04 pm

Video from the 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1998: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_Yr7At5-s

David_Schneider
David_Schneider on January 21, 2016 at 9:20 pm

The Silver Moon Drive-in can be glimpsed momentarily by passengers on passing Amtrak trains. : )

(I just uploaded a photo.)

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 6, 2017 at 6:30 pm

2017 photo added, credit Chuck Ellis-The Flying Valiant.

Also below is the Silver Moon Drive-In’s Facebook page with link to their website.

https://www.facebook.com/silvermoondrivein/?fref=mentions

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on November 7, 2017 at 8:49 pm

Is this theater showing films in scope actually on the screen now that they are digital?

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 12, 2020 at 4:31 am

Boxoffice, Feb. 18, 1950: I. Q. Mize, president of the Highway Amusement Co., told the story of his last-minute naming of the drive-in. “One morning before daylight as he and his wife were arising earlier than usual, Mize glanced through a bedroom window and was entranced with the silvery appearance of the moon which shone through his bedroom window.”

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 12, 2020 at 12:11 pm

Opened on 13/5/1948 with “Up goes Maizie”.

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