The Winchester Drive-In is one out of two drive-ins in Winchester, with the other one being the Royal Drive-In (1949-Mid 1970s; which will have its own Cinema Treasures page soon). Also, special thanks to the archives of the Winchester Evening Star, I made a mistake on the year the Royal closed.
In December 1982, the Manos Cinema VI (now AMC Apple Blossom 12) opened its doors as the adjacent to the Apple Blossom Mall. The Winchester Drive-In had no choice but to switch its format to X-rated features either around the same time or a shorter time later in connection to the opening of the Manos Cinema VI.
The Somerville Drive-In closed its gates for the 1988 season on September 4, 1988 with “Nightmare On Elm Street IV”, but it later turned out to be the Somerville Drive-In’s final night of operation, because right after closure comes a very unexpected tragedy.
On October 10, 1988 (one month and six days after closure), the abandoned Somerville Drive-In became local headlines after a 35-year-old local man was found dead inside the concession stand building. During investigation, one officer saw the body after checking his abandoned vehicle parked at one of the traces near the building. Officials reported that the man committed suicide by hanging inside the concession stand, and was identified as a former employee for the United Artists chain. Police said that he left a suicide note but declined to reveal its contents, and later confirmed that the man who killed himself lived 300 feet away from the theater.
At the time of the suicide, the Somerville Drive-In was originally scheduled to be closed for the season, but because of the former UA employee’s suicide, the Somerville Drive-In never reopened for the 1989 season and beyond. It was demolished in August 1992 to make way for its current Golf Range @ Branchburg site.
The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area would later open its second drive-in theater in 1940 called the 7th Street Drive-In in Whitehall six years after the Shankweiler’s opened its doors (which will have its Cinema Treasures page soon, and I made a huge mistake while finding history about the 7th Street Drive-In as I accidentally listed the 7th Street as the oldest in the area rather than it being the second-oldest because I totally forgot how close it was to Shankweiler’s, oops! My bad, but I hope someone can fix it).
Ted Vaughan and his Glenlea Corporation opened the Fairfield Drive-In featuring a superstructure 100ft CinemaScope screen and a 650-car capacity (listed as 700) on May 18, 1956 with Gary Cooper in “Vera Cruz” along with six unnamed cartoons.
The Fairfield Drive-In flipped its format from mainstream films to adult films in November 1977. This didn’t last long, and the Fairfield closed in December 1978.
The Bellwood opened its gates on May 28, 1948 with Randolph Scott in “Gunfighters” along with two shorts (one of which was listed as “Animal Speaks” which I don’t know where that came from) and a cartoon.
The Bellwood closed for the final time on September 26, 1986 with “Haunted Honeymoon” and “Summer Rental” at Screen 1 and “Shanghai Surprise” and “Fire With Fire” at Screen 2.
The Broadway Drive-In opened its gates on June 25, 1947 with Sonja Henie in “It’s A Pleasure” with no extra short subjects. Its original installations include RCA in-car speakers and a mammoth screen.
It is closed in 1972 and was demolished the following year in 1973.
Found it! In the little area of Vandar, the drive-in was located either located on 3485 Clinton Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28312. It probably started life as a smaller drive-in but turns out it expanded its traces. The Moonlite probably closed around 1981. A 1980 aerial view shows the theater in good shape and appears to be running, but three years later in the 1983 aerial view shows the theater fading its traces meaning that the theater may’ve closed a couple of years prior.
This was first known as the Starlite Drive-In, opening on July 20, 1950 with Joel McCrae in “Ramrod” along with a cartoon and a couple short subjects.
Opened on May 28, 1949 with Ronald Reagan in “Stallion Road” along with an unnamed cartoon and a newsreel. The Grove closed after the 1982 season.
Opened on July 14, 1949 with Randolph Scott in “Gunfighters” along with a cartoon, a couple short subjects, and a fireworks show.
Opened in mid-September 1947 and closed in September 1982.
Opened during the week of May 22, 1968.
The Winchester Drive-In is one out of two drive-ins in Winchester, with the other one being the Royal Drive-In (1949-Mid 1970s; which will have its own Cinema Treasures page soon). Also, special thanks to the archives of the Winchester Evening Star, I made a mistake on the year the Royal closed.
In December 1982, the Manos Cinema VI (now AMC Apple Blossom 12) opened its doors as the adjacent to the Apple Blossom Mall. The Winchester Drive-In had no choice but to switch its format to X-rated features either around the same time or a shorter time later in connection to the opening of the Manos Cinema VI.
Closed on October 22, 1995.
The Somerville Drive-In closed its gates for the 1988 season on September 4, 1988 with “Nightmare On Elm Street IV”, but it later turned out to be the Somerville Drive-In’s final night of operation, because right after closure comes a very unexpected tragedy.
On October 10, 1988 (one month and six days after closure), the abandoned Somerville Drive-In became local headlines after a 35-year-old local man was found dead inside the concession stand building. During investigation, one officer saw the body after checking his abandoned vehicle parked at one of the traces near the building. Officials reported that the man committed suicide by hanging inside the concession stand, and was identified as a former employee for the United Artists chain. Police said that he left a suicide note but declined to reveal its contents, and later confirmed that the man who killed himself lived 300 feet away from the theater.
At the time of the suicide, the Somerville Drive-In was originally scheduled to be closed for the season, but because of the former UA employee’s suicide, the Somerville Drive-In never reopened for the 1989 season and beyond. It was demolished in August 1992 to make way for its current Golf Range @ Branchburg site.
It appears that the screen was removed around 2013, however the concession building stands a little bit longer until around 2015.
Opened on December 10, 1982 by Manos Quality Theatres.
The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area would later open its second drive-in theater in 1940 called the 7th Street Drive-In in Whitehall six years after the Shankweiler’s opened its doors (which will have its Cinema Treasures page soon, and I made a huge mistake while finding history about the 7th Street Drive-In as I accidentally listed the 7th Street as the oldest in the area rather than it being the second-oldest because I totally forgot how close it was to Shankweiler’s, oops! My bad, but I hope someone can fix it).
Once known as “Charlotte Drive-In”.
Once operated by Budco and lastly by Manos until closing in September 1978.
Closed in 1985. It was last operated by United Artists and last managed by Ron Johnson.
It appears that I found it. It is located on 2709 South St, Nacogdoches, TX 75964.
This appears to be opened sometime in the 1960s. It was once operated by the Texas Cinema Corporation.
Closed on October 9, 1977 with “The Child” and “Axe”.
Ted Vaughan and his Glenlea Corporation opened the Fairfield Drive-In featuring a superstructure 100ft CinemaScope screen and a 650-car capacity (listed as 700) on May 18, 1956 with Gary Cooper in “Vera Cruz” along with six unnamed cartoons.
The Fairfield Drive-In flipped its format from mainstream films to adult films in November 1977. This didn’t last long, and the Fairfield closed in December 1978.
The Bellwood opened its gates on May 28, 1948 with Randolph Scott in “Gunfighters” along with two shorts (one of which was listed as “Animal Speaks” which I don’t know where that came from) and a cartoon.
The Bellwood closed for the final time on September 26, 1986 with “Haunted Honeymoon” and “Summer Rental” at Screen 1 and “Shanghai Surprise” and “Fire With Fire” at Screen 2.
The Broadway Drive-In opened its gates on June 25, 1947 with Sonja Henie in “It’s A Pleasure” with no extra short subjects. Its original installations include RCA in-car speakers and a mammoth screen.
It is closed in 1972 and was demolished the following year in 1973.
The Baxter opened its doors with “Tarzan And The Huntress” along with a couple of short subjects and a special display of lights before showing.
The Baxter Theatre closed its doors with a two-day showing of John Denver in “Oh God” (which is originally scheduled to be shown for six days).
Opened on August 30, 1939.
Yeah, I put the closest address for a reason, because I cannot spot the address of the former theater site on Google Maps.
It looks like this closed in the early-1980s, as a 1985 aerial view shows the theater’s screen being removed.
Found it! In the little area of Vandar, the drive-in was located either located on 3485 Clinton Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28312. It probably started life as a smaller drive-in but turns out it expanded its traces. The Moonlite probably closed around 1981. A 1980 aerial view shows the theater in good shape and appears to be running, but three years later in the 1983 aerial view shows the theater fading its traces meaning that the theater may’ve closed a couple of years prior.