This entry needs to list “Hollis Drive-In” as a previous name. I suspect Lynn Teeter was the person who renamed it. And here’s an approximate opening date:
Exhibitor, May 20, 1953: “Watt Long, Lavista, Hollis, Okla., will open his new drive-in, the Hollis, May 27.”
I’m getting out some twine to connect pushpins on a corkboard. I’m starting to guess that the 100 speakers that Cavasos used in Socorro came from Hatch.
The Hatch drive-in, capacity 100, closed after the 1948 season. The Starlite opened with 100 speakers the following spring. It makes a kind of sense.
I agree that the HistoricAerials (NETR) version for 1949 looks like the high-res Oct. 1 set. Maybe we’ll figure it out some day.
Boxoffice, March 29, 1952: “New manager of the Moonlite Drive-In in Hollister is Don Hooton. Hans Severinsen, owner, said Hooton replaces Dallas Haney, who shifted to a Santa Cruz theatre.”
Do you use USGS' EarthExplorer? https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It’s nowhere near as friendly and easy as HistoricAerials, but it can fill in a lot of gaps. HistoricAerials often uses those same USGS maps as its starting point.
In particular, I can see that Socorro’s 1949 photos were taken on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The latter set is unusually well detailed. You’re better at spotting these drive-ins, so maybe you could look them over.
I’m thinking of the drive-in at Hatch NM, about 100 miles down the highway. Its outline looked almost nothing like the typical clamshell drive-in site, but it could have influenced Cavasos, who had a Hatch connection. After his drive-in closed, Cavasos opened a radio/TV repair shop in Hatch.
So if you could look at some EarthExplorer TIF files with an eye toward an unconventional setup, maybe you’ll fill this longstanding hole in my knowledge.
Hi Kenmore. Sorry to be late with this reply. I wish you were right, but a couple of data points get in my way.
The Sierra (which would become the Sierra Vista) opened on April 24, 1952. Earlier Socorro drive-in notes are all consistent with Edsel Cavasos' Sunset/Star-Lite. Aerial photos from 1950 clearly showed that the future Sierra site was still unimproved land. It’s one of the few places that I know for sure wasn’t where the Sunset was. :)
There is so very much that I don’t know about this drive-in. I hope that one day some Socorro historian will be motivated to check it out.
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: “E. D. Winslow has reopened the Maywood in Maywood, the house operating on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday basis and closed the rest of the week”
The Feb. 2, 1952 Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice included a photo of the Ellis with the words “Celebrating our first anniversary” on its marquee, suggesting a 1951 (or 1950) opening date.
It was still active on July 23, 1963, when the Beckley Post-Herald reported the arrest of one of the robbers of the “Ellis Drive-In Restaurant and Theater at Clarksburg”.
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1952: “Change in ownership and management of the Cambria Theatre became effective January 1. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Lang purchased the house from Mr. and Mrs. Lester Balog.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1952: “Barney Gurnette, owner of the Clovis in Clovis, has purchased the Exeter at Exeter from the Exeter Amusement Corp. J. D. Arakelian, San Francisco theatre broker, handled the transaction”
From the current Smiths Ranch web site (https://www.drivein29.com/): “In 1956, Art Clemons, inspired by a drive-in theater he visited in Bakersfield, envisioned bringing this novel form of entertainment to the high desert town of Twenty Nine Palms. With his wife, DelDee, he embarked on a mission to create a local drive-in theater. After hiring an architect, the couple meticulously planned and constructed the Smith’s Ranch Drive-In. Their hard work culminated in a grand opening, where they proudly showcased their first film, “Man with the Golden Arm,” starring Frank Sinatra. Initially, the drive-in operated with three shows a week, becoming a beloved community fixture before the widespread rise of television.”
The Smith’s Ranch Drive-In erected a new metal tower in April 1992, based on a note in the Desert Trail. “The old screen, made from wood, served the theatre since 1954 (sic).”
Four days earlier, the Twentynine Palms newspaper, the Desert Trail, wrote that Don Dunham would take over the Starlite Twin “on long term lease” from the retiring owners Prudie and Bill Underhill on Jan. 1, 1973.
The Desert Trail, Sept. 28, 1978: “Bill and Prudie Underhill sold their Starlite Twin Drive-In Theatre and roller rink … to Major and Mrs. John Shay … Don Dunham(’s) lease has been cancelled to effect the transaction.”
I don’t know what was going on in 1972, but the 299 came back later in the decade. In the Eureka Times-Standard on June 22, 1976, a movie ad mentioned that it was available “Also 299 Drive In - Willow Creek”. And the 1977 Motion Picture Almanac, which had the best accuracy of any of their drive-in lists, still included the 299, owned by R. Rickard.
In the March 9, 1977 Times-Standard, a public notice said that James L. Rickard, executor of Helen Rickard’s estate, would sell 30% interest in “Buzzy’s 299 Drive-In, Willow Creek”. On May 11, 1977, a notice from Robert Rickard said he was abandoning the business name of Buzzy’s 299 Drive-In.
It’s possible that Rickard revived “Buzzy’s 299” for just one year, 1976, and those notices sure make it sound like the drive-in closed for good by 1977.
John Patrick Sheehy wrote a length article about his city’s theaters at PetalumaHistorian.com. Here are some Parkway notes:
“I was nine years old when Petaluma’s first drive-in, the Parkway Auto Movies, opened in the summer of 1964 … Built in the lowlands of Denman Flats north of town, the drive-in was plagued in summer with creeping ground fog and flooded in winter during heavy rainstorms … The Parkway’s screen had its back to the freeway, but looked out upon Stony Point Road, a rural lane that was often lined with parked cars during X-rated showings … Rising land prices and the continued transition to home video brought an end to the Parkway in 1986, taking with it what had once been a way of life for families and teenagers in Petaluma. The site was eventually converted into a golf driving range."
The Midway / Sonomarin Drive-In was different than the Parkway Auto Movie. The 1977 Motion Picture Almanac gave the Midway’s address as 5393 Redwood Hghwy; the Parkway’s address was 5155 Petaluma Blvd. N.
For more details, see John Patrick Sheehy’s lengthy article at PetalumaHistorian.com. The highlights:
“I was nine years old when Petaluma’s first drive-in, the Parkway Auto Movies, opened in the summer of 1964 … Built in the lowlands of Denman Flats north of town, the drive-in was plagued in summer with creeping ground fog and flooded in winter during heavy rainstorms … A second drive-in, the Midway, also opened alongside the freeway south of town in 1967, offering wired speakers that sat on the car roof instead of hooking onto the driver’s window. That not only saved speakers from being ripped off their poles by customers absent-mindedly driving away, it also provided stereo sound … The Midway’s screen faced the freeway, which meant drivers got a full view of the movies as they passed by. The Parkway’s screen had its back to the freeway, but looked out upon Stony Point Road, a rural lane that was often lined with parked cars during X-rated showings … Rising land prices and the continued transition to home video brought an end to the Parkway in 1986, taking with it what had once been a way of life for families and teenagers in Petaluma. The site was eventually converted into a golf driving range. The Sonomarin (Midway) followed in 1988, the property later purchased by the state of California for use as a flood control reservoir."
Modesto Bee, April 30, 1956: “The Lucky Drive in Theatre on Fulkerth Road near Highway 99 north of Turlock has been purchased by chain theater owners Lippert & Mann and is undergoing a remodeling program. Former owner was Bud Klint of Hilmar, who operated the theater the past four years.”
Maybe I was wrong. (It happens!) Double-checking Google Maps, I now see that this peninsula of Los Angeles county is known as West Rancho Dominguez. As Wikipedia puts it: West Rancho Dominguez, formerly known as West Compton and also known as East Gardena, is an unincorporated census-designated place located in southern Los Angeles County, California.
Aerial photos show the Glasgow intact in 1967-1975 but replaced by other buildings by 1985.
The Glasgow Courier reported on Thursday, Aug. 13, 1959, that the Glasgow Drive-In was “scheduled to open this week end.” The drive-in’s ad in that issue didn’t mention a grand opening, but the program for Aug. 14-15 as “No Down Payment” and “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1951: “The Rocket Theatre at 615 Locust St. has been purchased by S. A. Vogl from the Tri-States Theatre Corp. It was called the Garden until it was remodeled in 1949. The theatre was built in 1913 by A. H. Blank, president of Tri-States, and was one of the first theatres in Iowa built expressly for motion pictures. The house was operated by the Publix Theatre Corp. from 1927 to 1932 and then returned to Blank’s management under the then-new firm, Tri-States Theatre Corp. Vogl has been associated with Blank since 1933, except for three years service with the army in the South Pacific. He had been in the Tri-States auditing and booking office.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 8, 1951: “GLASGOW, MONT. - The Roxy Theatre here burned in a fire, which did an estimated $500,000 damage when it destroyed three downtown buildings housing six business establishments. The Roxy Theatre was housed in a two-story, stucco building.”
A 2016 article posted to Only In Nebraska included several photos of the abandoned Pineview. Those photos were watermarked with GhostsofNorthAmerica.com, a domain which is itself abandoned.
The last ad I could find for the Crest in the Kiowa County Star-Review was Sept. 1, 1960. The program was “Pork Chop Hill” and “Tarzan the Ape Man”
This entry needs to list “Hollis Drive-In” as a previous name. I suspect Lynn Teeter was the person who renamed it. And here’s an approximate opening date:
Exhibitor, May 20, 1953: “Watt Long, Lavista, Hollis, Okla., will open his new drive-in, the Hollis, May 27.”
I’m getting out some twine to connect pushpins on a corkboard. I’m starting to guess that the 100 speakers that Cavasos used in Socorro came from Hatch.
The Hatch drive-in, capacity 100, closed after the 1948 season. The Starlite opened with 100 speakers the following spring. It makes a kind of sense.
I agree that the HistoricAerials (NETR) version for 1949 looks like the high-res Oct. 1 set. Maybe we’ll figure it out some day.
The latest link for that issue of Boxoffice is:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/26658832/boxoffice-june281948
Boxoffice, April 5, 1952: “Paul Herman sold his Victory Theatre in San Diego to Harry Ussery”
The Moonlite was open by 1952.
Boxoffice, March 29, 1952: “New manager of the Moonlite Drive-In in Hollister is Don Hooton. Hans Severinsen, owner, said Hooton replaces Dallas Haney, who shifted to a Santa Cruz theatre.”
Do you use USGS' EarthExplorer? https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It’s nowhere near as friendly and easy as HistoricAerials, but it can fill in a lot of gaps. HistoricAerials often uses those same USGS maps as its starting point.
In particular, I can see that Socorro’s 1949 photos were taken on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The latter set is unusually well detailed. You’re better at spotting these drive-ins, so maybe you could look them over.
I’m thinking of the drive-in at Hatch NM, about 100 miles down the highway. Its outline looked almost nothing like the typical clamshell drive-in site, but it could have influenced Cavasos, who had a Hatch connection. After his drive-in closed, Cavasos opened a radio/TV repair shop in Hatch.
So if you could look at some EarthExplorer TIF files with an eye toward an unconventional setup, maybe you’ll fill this longstanding hole in my knowledge.
Hi Kenmore. Sorry to be late with this reply. I wish you were right, but a couple of data points get in my way.
The Sierra (which would become the Sierra Vista) opened on April 24, 1952. Earlier Socorro drive-in notes are all consistent with Edsel Cavasos' Sunset/Star-Lite. Aerial photos from 1950 clearly showed that the future Sierra site was still unimproved land. It’s one of the few places that I know for sure wasn’t where the Sunset was. :)
There is so very much that I don’t know about this drive-in. I hope that one day some Socorro historian will be motivated to check it out.
Of course, I stand corrected about the Circle Autoscope’s closing date, which was really Labor Day 1964.
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: “E. D. Winslow has reopened the Maywood in Maywood, the house operating on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday basis and closed the rest of the week”
The Feb. 2, 1952 Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice included a photo of the Ellis with the words “Celebrating our first anniversary” on its marquee, suggesting a 1951 (or 1950) opening date.
It was still active on July 23, 1963, when the Beckley Post-Herald reported the arrest of one of the robbers of the “Ellis Drive-In Restaurant and Theater at Clarksburg”.
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1952: “Change in ownership and management of the Cambria Theatre became effective January 1. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Lang purchased the house from Mr. and Mrs. Lester Balog.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1952: “Barney Gurnette, owner of the Clovis in Clovis, has purchased the Exeter at Exeter from the Exeter Amusement Corp. J. D. Arakelian, San Francisco theatre broker, handled the transaction”
From the current Smiths Ranch web site (https://www.drivein29.com/): “In 1956, Art Clemons, inspired by a drive-in theater he visited in Bakersfield, envisioned bringing this novel form of entertainment to the high desert town of Twenty Nine Palms. With his wife, DelDee, he embarked on a mission to create a local drive-in theater. After hiring an architect, the couple meticulously planned and constructed the Smith’s Ranch Drive-In. Their hard work culminated in a grand opening, where they proudly showcased their first film, “Man with the Golden Arm,” starring Frank Sinatra. Initially, the drive-in operated with three shows a week, becoming a beloved community fixture before the widespread rise of television.”
The Smith’s Ranch Drive-In erected a new metal tower in April 1992, based on a note in the Desert Trail. “The old screen, made from wood, served the theatre since 1954 (sic).”
Four days earlier, the Twentynine Palms newspaper, the Desert Trail, wrote that Don Dunham would take over the Starlite Twin “on long term lease” from the retiring owners Prudie and Bill Underhill on Jan. 1, 1973.
The Desert Trail, Sept. 28, 1978: “Bill and Prudie Underhill sold their Starlite Twin Drive-In Theatre and roller rink … to Major and Mrs. John Shay … Don Dunham(’s) lease has been cancelled to effect the transaction.”
I don’t know what was going on in 1972, but the 299 came back later in the decade. In the Eureka Times-Standard on June 22, 1976, a movie ad mentioned that it was available “Also 299 Drive In - Willow Creek”. And the 1977 Motion Picture Almanac, which had the best accuracy of any of their drive-in lists, still included the 299, owned by R. Rickard.
In the March 9, 1977 Times-Standard, a public notice said that James L. Rickard, executor of Helen Rickard’s estate, would sell 30% interest in “Buzzy’s 299 Drive-In, Willow Creek”. On May 11, 1977, a notice from Robert Rickard said he was abandoning the business name of Buzzy’s 299 Drive-In.
It’s possible that Rickard revived “Buzzy’s 299” for just one year, 1976, and those notices sure make it sound like the drive-in closed for good by 1977.
John Patrick Sheehy wrote a length article about his city’s theaters at PetalumaHistorian.com. Here are some Parkway notes:
“I was nine years old when Petaluma’s first drive-in, the Parkway Auto Movies, opened in the summer of 1964 … Built in the lowlands of Denman Flats north of town, the drive-in was plagued in summer with creeping ground fog and flooded in winter during heavy rainstorms … The Parkway’s screen had its back to the freeway, but looked out upon Stony Point Road, a rural lane that was often lined with parked cars during X-rated showings … Rising land prices and the continued transition to home video brought an end to the Parkway in 1986, taking with it what had once been a way of life for families and teenagers in Petaluma. The site was eventually converted into a golf driving range."
The Midway / Sonomarin Drive-In was different than the Parkway Auto Movie. The 1977 Motion Picture Almanac gave the Midway’s address as 5393 Redwood Hghwy; the Parkway’s address was 5155 Petaluma Blvd. N.
For more details, see John Patrick Sheehy’s lengthy article at PetalumaHistorian.com. The highlights:
“I was nine years old when Petaluma’s first drive-in, the Parkway Auto Movies, opened in the summer of 1964 … Built in the lowlands of Denman Flats north of town, the drive-in was plagued in summer with creeping ground fog and flooded in winter during heavy rainstorms … A second drive-in, the Midway, also opened alongside the freeway south of town in 1967, offering wired speakers that sat on the car roof instead of hooking onto the driver’s window. That not only saved speakers from being ripped off their poles by customers absent-mindedly driving away, it also provided stereo sound … The Midway’s screen faced the freeway, which meant drivers got a full view of the movies as they passed by. The Parkway’s screen had its back to the freeway, but looked out upon Stony Point Road, a rural lane that was often lined with parked cars during X-rated showings … Rising land prices and the continued transition to home video brought an end to the Parkway in 1986, taking with it what had once been a way of life for families and teenagers in Petaluma. The site was eventually converted into a golf driving range. The Sonomarin (Midway) followed in 1988, the property later purchased by the state of California for use as a flood control reservoir."
Modesto Bee, April 30, 1956: “The Lucky Drive in Theatre on Fulkerth Road near Highway 99 north of Turlock has been purchased by chain theater owners Lippert & Mann and is undergoing a remodeling program. Former owner was Bud Klint of Hilmar, who operated the theater the past four years.”
Maybe I was wrong. (It happens!) Double-checking Google Maps, I now see that this peninsula of Los Angeles county is known as West Rancho Dominguez. As Wikipedia puts it: West Rancho Dominguez, formerly known as West Compton and also known as East Gardena, is an unincorporated census-designated place located in southern Los Angeles County, California.
Aerial photos show the Glasgow intact in 1967-1975 but replaced by other buildings by 1985.
The Glasgow Courier reported on Thursday, Aug. 13, 1959, that the Glasgow Drive-In was “scheduled to open this week end.” The drive-in’s ad in that issue didn’t mention a grand opening, but the program for Aug. 14-15 as “No Down Payment” and “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1951: “The Rocket Theatre at 615 Locust St. has been purchased by S. A. Vogl from the Tri-States Theatre Corp. It was called the Garden until it was remodeled in 1949. The theatre was built in 1913 by A. H. Blank, president of Tri-States, and was one of the first theatres in Iowa built expressly for motion pictures. The house was operated by the Publix Theatre Corp. from 1927 to 1932 and then returned to Blank’s management under the then-new firm, Tri-States Theatre Corp. Vogl has been associated with Blank since 1933, except for three years service with the army in the South Pacific. He had been in the Tri-States auditing and booking office.”
Please add Sunair Drive-In as an alternate name, since that was its spelling when it opened.
Boxoffice, Dec. 8, 1951: “GLASGOW, MONT. - The Roxy Theatre here burned in a fire, which did an estimated $500,000 damage when it destroyed three downtown buildings housing six business establishments. The Roxy Theatre was housed in a two-story, stucco building.”
A 2016 article posted to Only In Nebraska included several photos of the abandoned Pineview. Those photos were watermarked with GhostsofNorthAmerica.com, a domain which is itself abandoned.