The Exhibitor, Sept. 10, 1952: “Charles E. Darden, Associated Popcorn Distributors, Inc., reported that the highlight of his trip into west Texas was his stop at the Grant Drive-In, Wichita Falls, which has a second story viewing room, and which does walk-in business from a residential area."
To restate that 1960 news, the school board bought the land and a concrete building (probably the concession/projection building) formerly used by the County / No Name. The drive-in was dead by then. Perhaps the board thought it could use the building somehow, which would account for its survival for another three decades.
In 1979, New Mexico authorized a vocational school in Tucumcari. I would speculate that’s about when the school board made a chunk of its land available for what later became Mesalands Community College.
John Hasten “J. H.” Snow owned and operated both of Hinton’s theaters at the time of this snippet.
Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “TUCUMCARI, N. M. – Construction has begun here on the County Drive-In, a 400-car airer being built by J. H. Snow of Hinton, Okla. The new ozoner is located on highway 66. Snow, a native of Oklahoma, has been in the theatre business only three years. He owns and operates two theatres in Hinton."
Kenmore, Mesalands Community College is on the site now. The high school was built on the east side of Loren Yessler’s property, which must have been extensive.
Gee whiz, the Yucca went through a lot of ownership changes in its first 12 months!
Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “John Blocker … built and opened the Yucca Drive-In this summer at Clovis, N. M., but sold out to Charles C. Wolf. Blocker has been in show business in Texas for a number of years. He once owned and operated the Texas in Abilene, then a night club at Lubbock and from there he went to Clovis.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “WICHITA FALLS, TEX. - John Blocker has begun construction on the Falls Drive-In on the outskirts of the city and plans to open the ozoner sometime next month. Blocker built and opened the Yucca Drive-In this summer at Clovis, N. M., but sold out to Charles C. Wolf. Blocker has been in show business in Texas for a number of years. He once owned and operated the Texas in Abilene, then a night club at Lubbock and from there he went to Clovis.”
Same theater? Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “Charles W. Weisenburg … is building the new Sylvia Theatre in Seagoville … The new house is right on the main highway a block from the old location. It is an all new brick building and will have about 600 seats.”
Boxoffice, April 28, 1969: “McLendon Theatres has purchased the East Main Drive-In in Grand Prairie, near the Dallas city limits, and the Downs Drive-In, also in Grand Prairie … The Downs will be rebuilt into a four-screen drive-in … The Downs, after the reconstruction, will be renamed Century 4."
Adding a little detail to dallasmovietheaters' earlier post.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1969: “McLendon Theatres has purchased the East Main Drive-In in Grand Prairie, near the Dallas city limits, and the Downs Drive-In, also in Grand Prairie. Robert M. Hartgrove, president of the McLendon circuit, said that the East Main, purchased from Charles Weisenburg, will be made into a twin airer with 1,500-car capacity and a new concessions area.”
Your note inspired me to take a closer look at the original hi-res TIF of the photo that John Margolies took in 1982. Straining against the Kodachrome grain, I can see a small Coca-Cola-topped message board in the boxoffice window. I can’t make out the words, but the four lines look like “Admission $? / (two short words) / All Movies Rated / X”. So now I’m sold on the idea that the Trail was open at least that long.
TinEye.com first noticed this photo at Amachron.com’s long page of Amarillo photos, about a year before it was posted here. I sure wish I knew where it came from.
Filling in a few more details from dallasmovietheaters' 2015 note, the Twin opened on July 18, 1952 with “The Lion and the Horse” on the first screen and “Flight to Mars” on the second, along with two cartoons.
Joseph Dydzak, who was part of that Canadian drive-in chain, passed away in Dallas in 1983. I tracked down his son, who sent me this email earlier this year: “My father, a Canadian who loved Texas, owned it for a brief period. It was acquired from Cinemark and legendary theatre owner Lee Roy Mitchel who lives in Plano. After my father passed away, the drive in theatre was eventually sold to Walmart.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 17, 1952: “The Tascosa drive-in theatre, on North Fillmore, Amarillo, Texas, opened.”
And now NewspaperArchive.com filled in the Amarillo gap that kept me from knowing the date. I uploaded the grand opening ad from May 2, 1952. The first double feature was “The Highwayman” with Charles Coburn, “The Longhorn” with Bill Elliott, and a couple of unnamed color cartoons.
Lester Dollison, who owned the Rex and Star theaters in Amarillo and others in Sherman, Denton, Wichita Falls and San Angelo, moved to Amarillo in May 1950 to establish his company headquarters there, per a note in the July 23, 1950 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe.
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog still listed Dollison as the Skyway’s owner, but the 1955-56 edition changed that to H. Wilson and J. Fagan. The 1960 Motion Picture Almanac mentioned three owners - Weisenberg, Fagan & Wilson.
Amarillo Globe-Times, Dec. 6, 1967: “Amarillo has lost an ozoner … the Palo Duro … is being razed. The Palo Duro closed its gates permanently Nov. 26 after showing a triple feature which included "El Dorado,” “Your Cheatin' Heart” and “The Rounders.” The closing resulted from a loss of the lease on the property, an official said. The Palo Duro opened May 13, 1948 as the second drive-in theater in the city … Charles Weisenberg, Harold Wilson and Johnny Fagan were the original owners of the theater, and Wilson was the first manager. In 1954 Wilson and Fagan sold their interests in the theater. Fagan, however, did not completely sever his connection with the Palo Duro. For the past year, he has managed both the Palo Duro and Twin Drive-In. Fagan also owns the Buena Vista Drive-In in Borger … Built to hold 400 cars, the drive-in was enlarged in 1952 to accommodate 553 vehicles. A year later the screen was enlarged to allow showings of Cinemascope movies."
I guess this didn’t pan out. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, July 6, 1972: “W. O. Bearden is seeking zoning changes that would … make the Golden Horseshoe Drive-In Theater conform to the zoning for the first time since it was brought into the city limits. Two requests to install a third screen backing up to 66th Street have been denied by the Zoning Board of Adjustment … The theater is a legal non-conforming use since it was there when the area was annexed and automatically zoned for single family residences.”
The Dixie had a near miss just a month before it burned down.
The Exhibitor, Aug. 19, 1953: “John Christianson averted possible fire at the Dixie, Athens, Tex., when he discovered smoke and flames coming from the wiring in the neon sign above the entrance. Damage was slight.”
BTW, the Trail was different from the Athens / Star Vue. A 1954 aerial photo of the future Trail site (TX-31 BUS & Slagle St) showed empty land. South of town along then-Texas 19, a 1955 aerial photo showed another drive-in, presumably the Star Vue. A good address is 1220 S Palestine St, where Fresenius Kidney Care is today. The office building had replaced the drive-in by a 1983 aerial photo.
BoxwellBrothers.com obituary, Oct. 25, 2016: “Lucille Turner was born on July 29, 1920 in Hunt County, Texas … in Dawson, Texas … she met her future husband, Clifton C. Turner Jr. … In 1957, they moved to Athens, Texas where they built and operated the Trail Drive-In Theater."
Boxoffice, July 20, 1964: “Bob Nicholas, who recently took over the Rialto Theatre in Higgins, Tex., from a group of businessmen who had operated the place several years as a civic activity, died.”
DavidZornig, that’s very helpful, unique information! The Motion Picture Almanac dropped the Trail in 1977, perhaps because it was X-rated by then, and that’s all I could find. Where did you get that date?
The Exhibitor, Sept. 10, 1952: “Charles E. Darden, Associated Popcorn Distributors, Inc., reported that the highlight of his trip into west Texas was his stop at the Grant Drive-In, Wichita Falls, which has a second story viewing room, and which does walk-in business from a residential area."
To restate that 1960 news, the school board bought the land and a concrete building (probably the concession/projection building) formerly used by the County / No Name. The drive-in was dead by then. Perhaps the board thought it could use the building somehow, which would account for its survival for another three decades.
In 1979, New Mexico authorized a vocational school in Tucumcari. I would speculate that’s about when the school board made a chunk of its land available for what later became Mesalands Community College.
John Hasten “J. H.” Snow owned and operated both of Hinton’s theaters at the time of this snippet.
Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “TUCUMCARI, N. M. – Construction has begun here on the County Drive-In, a 400-car airer being built by J. H. Snow of Hinton, Okla. The new ozoner is located on highway 66. Snow, a native of Oklahoma, has been in the theatre business only three years. He owns and operates two theatres in Hinton."
Kenmore, Mesalands Community College is on the site now. The high school was built on the east side of Loren Yessler’s property, which must have been extensive.
Gee whiz, the Yucca went through a lot of ownership changes in its first 12 months!
Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “John Blocker … built and opened the Yucca Drive-In this summer at Clovis, N. M., but sold out to Charles C. Wolf. Blocker has been in show business in Texas for a number of years. He once owned and operated the Texas in Abilene, then a night club at Lubbock and from there he went to Clovis.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “WICHITA FALLS, TEX. - John Blocker has begun construction on the Falls Drive-In on the outskirts of the city and plans to open the ozoner sometime next month. Blocker built and opened the Yucca Drive-In this summer at Clovis, N. M., but sold out to Charles C. Wolf. Blocker has been in show business in Texas for a number of years. He once owned and operated the Texas in Abilene, then a night club at Lubbock and from there he went to Clovis.”
Same theater? Boxoffice, Sept. 25, 1948: “Charles W. Weisenburg … is building the new Sylvia Theatre in Seagoville … The new house is right on the main highway a block from the old location. It is an all new brick building and will have about 600 seats.”
Boxoffice, April 28, 1969: “McLendon Theatres has purchased the East Main Drive-In in Grand Prairie, near the Dallas city limits, and the Downs Drive-In, also in Grand Prairie … The Downs will be rebuilt into a four-screen drive-in … The Downs, after the reconstruction, will be renamed Century 4."
Adding a little detail to dallasmovietheaters' earlier post.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1969: “McLendon Theatres has purchased the East Main Drive-In in Grand Prairie, near the Dallas city limits, and the Downs Drive-In, also in Grand Prairie. Robert M. Hartgrove, president of the McLendon circuit, said that the East Main, purchased from Charles Weisenburg, will be made into a twin airer with 1,500-car capacity and a new concessions area.”
Your note inspired me to take a closer look at the original hi-res TIF of the photo that John Margolies took in 1982. Straining against the Kodachrome grain, I can see a small Coca-Cola-topped message board in the boxoffice window. I can’t make out the words, but the four lines look like “Admission $? / (two short words) / All Movies Rated / X”. So now I’m sold on the idea that the Trail was open at least that long.
TinEye.com first noticed this photo at Amachron.com’s long page of Amarillo photos, about a year before it was posted here. I sure wish I knew where it came from.
Filling in a few more details from dallasmovietheaters' 2015 note, the Twin opened on July 18, 1952 with “The Lion and the Horse” on the first screen and “Flight to Mars” on the second, along with two cartoons.
Joseph Dydzak, who was part of that Canadian drive-in chain, passed away in Dallas in 1983. I tracked down his son, who sent me this email earlier this year: “My father, a Canadian who loved Texas, owned it for a brief period. It was acquired from Cinemark and legendary theatre owner Lee Roy Mitchel who lives in Plano. After my father passed away, the drive in theatre was eventually sold to Walmart.”
This 1977 photo by John Margolies is part of the Library of Congress’s John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1977 photo by John Margolies is part of the Library of Congress’s John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive and is effectively in the public domain.
Years later, I found a local TV news story that confirmed that the Tascosa suffered wind damage in March 2019 and was collecting money to repair it.
The Tascosa was listed for sale in August 2020, and is still available. It showed movies through October 2021, and is closed for the season.
Years later, I found that opening clue.
Motion Picture Herald, May 17, 1952: “The Tascosa drive-in theatre, on North Fillmore, Amarillo, Texas, opened.”
And now NewspaperArchive.com filled in the Amarillo gap that kept me from knowing the date. I uploaded the grand opening ad from May 2, 1952. The first double feature was “The Highwayman” with Charles Coburn, “The Longhorn” with Bill Elliott, and a couple of unnamed color cartoons.
Lester Dollison, who owned the Rex and Star theaters in Amarillo and others in Sherman, Denton, Wichita Falls and San Angelo, moved to Amarillo in May 1950 to establish his company headquarters there, per a note in the July 23, 1950 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe.
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog still listed Dollison as the Skyway’s owner, but the 1955-56 edition changed that to H. Wilson and J. Fagan. The 1960 Motion Picture Almanac mentioned three owners - Weisenberg, Fagan & Wilson.
Amarillo Globe-Times, Dec. 6, 1967: “Amarillo has lost an ozoner … the Palo Duro … is being razed. The Palo Duro closed its gates permanently Nov. 26 after showing a triple feature which included "El Dorado,” “Your Cheatin' Heart” and “The Rounders.” The closing resulted from a loss of the lease on the property, an official said. The Palo Duro opened May 13, 1948 as the second drive-in theater in the city … Charles Weisenberg, Harold Wilson and Johnny Fagan were the original owners of the theater, and Wilson was the first manager. In 1954 Wilson and Fagan sold their interests in the theater. Fagan, however, did not completely sever his connection with the Palo Duro. For the past year, he has managed both the Palo Duro and Twin Drive-In. Fagan also owns the Buena Vista Drive-In in Borger … Built to hold 400 cars, the drive-in was enlarged in 1952 to accommodate 553 vehicles. A year later the screen was enlarged to allow showings of Cinemascope movies."
I guess this didn’t pan out. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, July 6, 1972: “W. O. Bearden is seeking zoning changes that would … make the Golden Horseshoe Drive-In Theater conform to the zoning for the first time since it was brought into the city limits. Two requests to install a third screen backing up to 66th Street have been denied by the Zoning Board of Adjustment … The theater is a legal non-conforming use since it was there when the area was annexed and automatically zoned for single family residences.”
The Dixie had a near miss just a month before it burned down.
The Exhibitor, Aug. 19, 1953: “John Christianson averted possible fire at the Dixie, Athens, Tex., when he discovered smoke and flames coming from the wiring in the neon sign above the entrance. Damage was slight.”
BTW, the Trail was different from the Athens / Star Vue. A 1954 aerial photo of the future Trail site (TX-31 BUS & Slagle St) showed empty land. South of town along then-Texas 19, a 1955 aerial photo showed another drive-in, presumably the Star Vue. A good address is 1220 S Palestine St, where Fresenius Kidney Care is today. The office building had replaced the drive-in by a 1983 aerial photo.
BoxwellBrothers.com obituary, Oct. 25, 2016: “Lucille Turner was born on July 29, 1920 in Hunt County, Texas … in Dawson, Texas … she met her future husband, Clifton C. Turner Jr. … In 1957, they moved to Athens, Texas where they built and operated the Trail Drive-In Theater."
Boxoffice, July 20, 1964: “Bob Nicholas, who recently took over the Rialto Theatre in Higgins, Tex., from a group of businessmen who had operated the place several years as a civic activity, died.”
CardCow was selling a copy of this undated postcard, published by Dexter Press in West Nyack NY.
DavidZornig, that’s very helpful, unique information! The Motion Picture Almanac dropped the Trail in 1977, perhaps because it was X-rated by then, and that’s all I could find. Where did you get that date?