Lincoln Drive-In

The Lincoln flipped its format from mainstream to adult films in 1979. The Lincoln closed for the final time on September 15, 1984.

TheALAN…What are you talking about? I was there, then, when I said I was. I don’t know the address, but I didn’t need to, as I was a weekly visitor. I fell asleep??? Whaaa?

The Lincoln Drive-In Theatre was located at 2407 Lincoln Hwy., Trevose, PA. Today, it is part of The Neshaminy Interplex Business Center. In fact, the entrance to the Interplex is approximately where the entrance was for the drive-in. 2707 Roosevelt Blvd./Lincoln Hwy. would put the drive-in somewhere in Roosevelt Memorial Park — a cemetery. Sorry calcync, I think you fell asleep. The “Night of the Living Dead” ended!

In the early 80’s it was still open showing porn double features.

Seems like I grew up on the Lincoln Drive In lot. I hail from Somerton, about 2 mi. from the theater. My most memorable experience was a 1968 date with my future wife. We went to a $1.00 a carload dawn to dusk horror fest. The first couple movies were horrible and we were “comfortably numb” when Night of the Living Dead came on. That woke us up…fast! There was a full moon framing the ever creepy Max Security bldg and some out-buildings of Byberry Mental Hospital. Lethal combination…I did 70 MPH down Roosevelt Blvd til I cleared Byberry Rd. NOLD is still my favorite movie.

Nice ad Lost.

Ah! the Lincoln Drive-In, the first drive-in I ever attended. I recall as a child going with my parents, dressed in my P.J.s and given a purchased orange drink to keep me quiet while they watched the fim fare. We always parked on ramp #13 (they called them ramps, not rows). “Our” ramp was two in front of the concession stand, a little to the right. In the early days, the guys would have spotlight “fights' on the screen after dusk. This was before the 10 minute green tinted big intermission clock or the little guy who stuffed his face with junk food. I continued to attend this drive-in for the next 25 years.

The theatre opened on 4/2/1948 with two old fims: “Buck Privates” (1941) starring Abbott & Costello and “Jack London” (1943). The Lincoln was the first drive-in built in northeast Philadelphia and lower Bucks County. The entrance was festooned with blinking pink and green neon, and the attraction marquee spelled out LINCOLN DRIVE-IN in a myriad of blinking bulbs.

In the late 70s and into the 80s, the theatre showed mainly porn fare. That was a shame since in its hey day, it showed the most popular films. In 1949, it had the exclusive run for Cecil B. DeMille’s “Samson and Delilah”. I saw “Singin' in the Rain”, Martin & Lewis’s “Jumpin' Jacks” and “Broken Arrow” here as a child. In 1956, me and my best friend sat on the gravel lot watching “Godzilla” destroy Tokyo while a cool summer breeze kept us cool. The Lincoln Drive-In holds many wonderful memories. I still miss it.

Does anyone know when this was demolished? I remember that going to the lincoln was a right-of-passage for 18 year old males as recently as the late 70’s or early 80’s. At one point they build a big hotel next door (Hyatt?) and all the rooms on the back side had perfect views of the screen. I figured that the theater, or at least the XXX format, was a goner at that point.