The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which was on the east side of US 1, just south of Kingman Rd. The address in the current heading is off by about 3 miles to the south.
Here is a USGS topo map which notes the location of the drive-in, courtesy of MSRMaps.com.
There was a drive-in near Buffalo, NY, that lasted for only 3 months! The Nite-Way Drive-In opened in August 1948, then closed for the winter by mid October. A January windstorm knocked down the screen, and they never reopened. This drive-in was also notable in that they advertised the availability of AM radio sound, in 1948! Did people even have radios in their cars then?
This website contains more information about the Nite-Way, I’ll check to see if it’s already been added on CT, if not then I will see to it personally.
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is currently occupied by Doubletree Hotel Tampa Westshore Airport.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, which had already been closed for several years. The screen tower facing west is clearly visible, as is its shadow. It appears to have been a very small drive-in.
Earth Explorer has an aerial photo of this location from October 1, 1950. The resolution is not great, but if there were a permanently constructed drive-in there, it would be clearly visible. It isn’t, which leads me to conclude that this was at best a hack-job drive-in, or temporary set up with no ramps or permanent structures.
Another drive-in located on E Hillsborough Ave and N 22nd St is clearly visible on the same 1950 aerial photo.
If someone decides to take a few sheets of plywood, nail them to a tree, pipe the sound through a stage speaker, and run a projector out of the the kitchen window onto a screen, does that classify it a drive-in? My answer would be, no. Since they only ran ads in the Tampa paper for two weekends, it didn’t seem to be a successful venture.
Here is the 1950 aerial photo, with the arrow pointed toward the intersection of E Hillsborough Ave and N 43rd St, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The road was renamed from 22nd St, and the address currently in the heading takes Google Earth somewhere out near Busch Gardens.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
The above address will map more accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is currently occupied by Arbour Ponds Apartment Homes. The current heading address maps to the adjacent property occupied by K-Mart.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
@Mike: I’ve seen almanacs which listed the same theatres twice during the same year, so anything is possible. When I was researching New York drive-ins for NewYorkDriveins.com, I made a point to research every newspaper for every location, and found there were several locations doubled up, more so in the almanacs than in the catalogs.
For example, I found the Buffalo Drive-In listed under both Harlem Drive-In and Buffalo Drive-In for the same year. The Buffalo Drive-In was on Harlem Road, and somehow it got doubled up. I’ve also seen the Buffalo Drive-In listed as Route 62 Drive-In, Route 62 being Harlem Road.
Similar situations were found for other drive-ins around the state, too many to mention. The only way to know for certain is to check with a local resident who’s lived in the town at the time the drive-ins were open, or to research the newspaper ads from the microfilm.
@Mike: I wonder if the Community Outdoor Theatre and the Perry Drive-In were one and the same. It was not unusual for drive-ins to change names when they changed operators. The only way to know for certain is to research newspaper microfilm, or check with the local residents. This town didn’t seem large enough for two drive-ins, let alone three.
I found two drive-ins on the 1956 aerial photos, one to the south of Crestview on S Ferdon Blvd and the other to the west on W James Lee Blvd. Not sure which one in the Park and which one is the Dixie, hoping maybe someone here can shed some light.
The drive-in to the south is definitely the larger of the two, so if I went by car size, the bigger one to the south would have been the Park, and the smaller one to the west would have been the Dixie. But that would just be a guess, and I’d like to have something more solid to go by.
It was most definitely an extensive rebuild, and more than a remodeling. The entire concession stand was demolished and relocated to the back of the lot, the original tower was rebuilt for Cinemascope, and a new ticket booth was built further back from the road.
An interesting fact about the Star, the manager mentioned in the article was Jake Stefanon, who left Blatt Brothers in the mid 1960s to purchase his own small-town drive-in near Perry, New York. The Silver Lake Twin Drive-In is still run by the Stefanon family, and has evolved into one of the finest drive-in operations in the country.
The Star Drive-in opened on October 25, 1947. The Boxoffice Magazine article mentioned in the post above was from a grand reopening, after operations were taken over by Blatt Brothers and they conducted extensive remodeling in 1957. The article was not very specific about those types of details.
This website contains details about the opening of the Star in 1947.
According to the grand opening ad posted by Mike Rivest, the drive-in was located on NW 167th St & 34th Ave, which is consistent with the Miami Gardens address, and not was not in North Miami Beach.
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The street address in the current heading is correct, but the town and zip code throw off the mapping on Google Earth.
Here is a 1980 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
Something wacky is going on with this address, as there was no drive-in at that location in the 1961 aerial photos. Does anyone have an idea what side street was closest to this drive-in, on NW 27th Avenue?
There definitely was no drive-in located on the 6000 block of NW 27th Avenue, according to the 1961 aerial photos.
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which was in Miami Gardens near the Miami-Dade County line. While the street address in the heading is correct, the town and zip code is not.
U.S. 1 & Kingman Rd, Titusville, FL 32796
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which was on the east side of US 1, just south of Kingman Rd. The address in the current heading is off by about 3 miles to the south.
Here is a USGS topo map which notes the location of the drive-in, courtesy of MSRMaps.com.
There was a drive-in near Buffalo, NY, that lasted for only 3 months! The Nite-Way Drive-In opened in August 1948, then closed for the winter by mid October. A January windstorm knocked down the screen, and they never reopened. This drive-in was also notable in that they advertised the availability of AM radio sound, in 1948! Did people even have radios in their cars then?
This website contains more information about the Nite-Way, I’ll check to see if it’s already been added on CT, if not then I will see to it personally.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
4500 W Cypress St, Tampa, FL 33607
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is currently occupied by Doubletree Hotel Tampa Westshore Airport.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, which had already been closed for several years. The screen tower facing west is clearly visible, as is its shadow. It appears to have been a very small drive-in.
Earth Explorer has an aerial photo of this location from October 1, 1950. The resolution is not great, but if there were a permanently constructed drive-in there, it would be clearly visible. It isn’t, which leads me to conclude that this was at best a hack-job drive-in, or temporary set up with no ramps or permanent structures.
Another drive-in located on E Hillsborough Ave and N 22nd St is clearly visible on the same 1950 aerial photo.
If someone decides to take a few sheets of plywood, nail them to a tree, pipe the sound through a stage speaker, and run a projector out of the the kitchen window onto a screen, does that classify it a drive-in? My answer would be, no. Since they only ran ads in the Tampa paper for two weekends, it didn’t seem to be a successful venture.
Here is the 1950 aerial photo, with the arrow pointed toward the intersection of E Hillsborough Ave and N 43rd St, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
3612 Causeway Blvd, Tampa, FL 33619
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The road was renamed from 22nd St, and the address currently in the heading takes Google Earth somewhere out near Busch Gardens.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
2901 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33607
The above address will map more accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is currently occupied by Arbour Ponds Apartment Homes. The current heading address maps to the adjacent property occupied by K-Mart.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
@Mike: I’ve seen almanacs which listed the same theatres twice during the same year, so anything is possible. When I was researching New York drive-ins for NewYorkDriveins.com, I made a point to research every newspaper for every location, and found there were several locations doubled up, more so in the almanacs than in the catalogs.
For example, I found the Buffalo Drive-In listed under both Harlem Drive-In and Buffalo Drive-In for the same year. The Buffalo Drive-In was on Harlem Road, and somehow it got doubled up. I’ve also seen the Buffalo Drive-In listed as Route 62 Drive-In, Route 62 being Harlem Road.
Similar situations were found for other drive-ins around the state, too many to mention. The only way to know for certain is to check with a local resident who’s lived in the town at the time the drive-ins were open, or to research the newspaper ads from the microfilm.
@Mike: I wonder if the Community Outdoor Theatre and the Perry Drive-In were one and the same. It was not unusual for drive-ins to change names when they changed operators. The only way to know for certain is to research newspaper microfilm, or check with the local residents. This town didn’t seem large enough for two drive-ins, let alone three.
This drive-in is visible on Google Earth using historic aerial imagery.
Here is a 1951 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
Found the other drive-in on US 98 south of Perry, have a 1951 aerial photo of it. I will make a listing and post.
14601 S Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL 33176
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is now occupied by a shopping plaza anchored by Publix.
Here is a 1969 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
I found two drive-ins on the 1956 aerial photos, one to the south of Crestview on S Ferdon Blvd and the other to the west on W James Lee Blvd. Not sure which one in the Park and which one is the Dixie, hoping maybe someone here can shed some light.
The drive-in to the south is definitely the larger of the two, so if I went by car size, the bigger one to the south would have been the Park, and the smaller one to the west would have been the Dixie. But that would just be a guess, and I’d like to have something more solid to go by.
It was most definitely an extensive rebuild, and more than a remodeling. The entire concession stand was demolished and relocated to the back of the lot, the original tower was rebuilt for Cinemascope, and a new ticket booth was built further back from the road.
An interesting fact about the Star, the manager mentioned in the article was Jake Stefanon, who left Blatt Brothers in the mid 1960s to purchase his own small-town drive-in near Perry, New York. The Silver Lake Twin Drive-In is still run by the Stefanon family, and has evolved into one of the finest drive-in operations in the country.
Joe,
The Star Drive-in opened on October 25, 1947. The Boxoffice Magazine article mentioned in the post above was from a grand reopening, after operations were taken over by Blatt Brothers and they conducted extensive remodeling in 1957. The article was not very specific about those types of details.
This website contains details about the opening of the Star in 1947.
2701 NE 14th St, Ocala, FL 34470
The above address will map accurately the location of the drive-in. An Auto Zone auto parts store currently occupyies the property.
Here is a 1964 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
According to the grand opening ad posted by Mike Rivest, the drive-in was located on NW 167th St & 34th Ave, which is consistent with the Miami Gardens address, and not was not in North Miami Beach.
3383 NW 167th St, Miami Gardens, FL 33056
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The street address in the current heading is correct, but the town and zip code throw off the mapping on Google Earth.
Here is a 1980 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.
Something wacky is going on with this address, as there was no drive-in at that location in the 1961 aerial photos. Does anyone have an idea what side street was closest to this drive-in, on NW 27th Avenue?
There definitely was no drive-in located on the 6000 block of NW 27th Avenue, according to the 1961 aerial photos.
17175 NW 27th Ave, Miami Gardens, FL 33056
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which was in Miami Gardens near the Miami-Dade County line. While the street address in the heading is correct, the town and zip code is not.
1201 NW 42nd Ave, Miami, FL 33126
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in. The address currently in the heading is off by almost 4 miles to the northeast.
Here is a 1969 high resolution aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
Here is a 1969 high resolution close-up photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
Here is a 1969 high resolution close-up photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
Here is a 1961 aerial photo of the drive-in, which shows the fence bisecting the drive-in through the middle of the lot.
Here is a 1969 higher resolution close-up photo.
You can see there were separate entrances and ticket offices for the east side and west side of the lot.
Both photos are courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.