Ledgewood Drive-In
1135 US 46,
Ledgewood,
NJ
07852
1135 US 46,
Ledgewood,
NJ
07852
5 people
favorited this theater
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First ad appeared in the Star-Ledger on May 4th, 1950.
The correct address is:
1135 U.S. 46. Ledgewood, NJ 07852
Uploaded pictures from Motion Picture Herald from June 3, 1950.
A article in the June 3,1950 Motion Picture Herald magazine about the drive-in and it was called “The Garden Auto-Torium” when it first opened. So it should be listed “aka” The Garden Auto-Torium.
This old aerial photo is great. I seem to remember that the entrance was east of the Ledgewood Circle on route 46, but there was also a driveway west of the circle on route 46, which was an exit only, not an entrance.
I saw Back to the Future (1985) last drive in movie before moving back to NH.
Go to http://ledgewooddrivein.home.comcast.net and follow the third link listed. The only thing left is the exit road with the stone roadway and the white landscaping timbers on the side.
any evidence still there?
It was located where BJ’s is now.
where exactly was this? where walgreen is?
Was mentioned in the documentary “Drive-In Movie Memories” in 2001.
Early on in the doc, they were showing an array of news clippings of new offerings by the drive-ins, and I zoomed in and hit pause to read a clipping from my hometown drive-in! It said from the Morristown Daily (newspaper) that they would defy winter and plan to show (historic) NYE shows as the first drive-in theater in North Jersey. Five full features.
Sandwiches Unlimited reopened a couple of years ago. It is now across the street from Ramsey’s in a small strip of stores on Rt 46.
As for the closing date of the drive-in, it had to be at the end of the 1986 summer/autumn season.
I distinctly recall seeing ALIENS, late in it’s run, at the classic Ledgewood Drive-in. I belive that was one among the last 4 or 5 things shown there.
Friends and I in high school would drive to the Ledgewood in the mid 1970s from Summit. I was the runt of the litter and got to hide in the trunk in order to save the $3-4 admission. Claustrophobic joy.
The Garden Auto-Torium was part of the David Snaper Theater Circuit in the early Seventies.
that stinks…around my neck of the woods, Walgreens just opened in Rockaway and the new one in Ledgewood will be like that one. It would be cool if Morris County had its own drive-in; the only closest one would be in Warwick, NY on Route 94.
I should mention that the Sandwitches Unlimited and Old Antiques Store are both torn down now, as a 24 Hour Walgreens pharmacy is being built….
Smiles 2, the strip joint is still there however.
I grew up in the 80’s in Landing, and was driven by the Drive In all the time as we went around the Ledgewood circle.
I would drive my bike often w/buddies around the ruines of the then closed drive-in. Very cool stuff.
I wish it was still there.
Went to RHS in the 70’s and remember “Day of the Dolphin” playing at the drive-in. Like $3-5 for everyone you could fit into a car. “Fa loves Pa” at discount prices!
My family piled into the Country Squire wagon and went to see “The Poseidon Adventure” at Ledgewood in ‘72 or '73. The second movie was a horrid bit of drivel called “Prudence and the Pill.” This was my first visit to a drive-in and I loved it!
Seeing “Poseidon” on a drive-in is something I have never forgotten. A few years later I made a point of seeing “Star Wars” at a drive in because of how awesome that first experience was.
I recently visited my old hometown (Dover) and took a drive out 46 to see how things had changed. While I knew the drive in was no more, I took the opportunity to walk the old location and could just about see its boundaries in some spots.
Really surprising was that the old antique store is still there, though it looks like it should be condemned.
My parents did the same thing when I was little, but I don’t remember watching any movies. My brother and I would end up sleeping in the back of the station wagon before the movie started.
My parents took us to the drivein during the 60’s for all the wonderful G rated movies. We would go in our pajamas with pillows and sleeping bags in the back of our Mercury station wagon and usually fell asleep before the movie ended or on the way home on Emmans Road. Wonderful memories!
Some pictures from Ledgewood drive in here http://ledgewooddrivein.home.comcast.net
Lenape Valley!
Assuming we were all “locals” going to Ledgewood Drivein, I’m curious if anyone else went to Dover High School (or where did you go?)