Mendon Twin Drive-In
35 Milford Street,
Mendon,
MA
01756
35 Milford Street,
Mendon,
MA
01756
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When you go to the drive-in, be sure to drive out: Someone left a car at the Mendon after the show. Boston.com story here.
You know what Michael, I just took a look and you are correct, an old 1954 topo shows there was a drive-in at the current address of 21 Millville Road, so there were absolutely two different sites in this town.
Just noticed that the first Catalog list (1948-49) put Mendon’s drive-in on Mendon-Millville Road. That starts on the southwest side of Mendon. The Milford/Mendon is on Milford Street on the northeast side. So now I’d put my money on a different drive-in and another continuing Almanac error.
Did Mendon once have another drive-in, or is the Mendon’s opening date wrong?
The 1952-53 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac lists only the Auto Drive-In, owner F. Parker, capacity of only 100 cars. The next edition changed the name to Open-Air Drive-In, and that’s how it stayed through the 1955 edition, then things changed.
1956-57: Milford, F. Parker, 100. 1959: Milford, Interstate, 300. 1961-66: Milford, Interstate, 100. 1969-76: Milford, 100. 1982: Milford, Interst Ths., 500. 1984-88: Milford, Interst. Ths., 1 screen.
The 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1952 editions of the Theatre Catalog also list the Mendon Auto Drive-In, owner Fred Parker, capacity 100. There’s nothing in the 1953-54 edition, and in the next drive-in list (the 1955-56 edition) there’s the Milford Drive-in, with the owner of Twin D. I. Th., and Affiliated Ths., capacity 485 cars.
Maybe the Almanacs got it wrong, that the small Auto folded around 1953, soon to be replaced by the larger Mendon, and the Almanac kept assigning the old owner and capacity to the new drive-in. Or maybe Fred Parker kept owning the same drive-in from before 1949 till after the name change. I’ll bet an hour at the local library or a phone call to the right local historian could produce the answer.
Since there have been no updates for the last 3 years, I thought I would share them. DI is under new ownership for the last 2 years and now serves beer and wine. New owners have shown PPV concerts and UFC fights and have had retro movie weekends in September and horror films during October.
The only thing about it I don’t like … well, two things … are the incredibly long lines to get into it (hours of waiting are not unusual) … and having to use your radio and drain your battery or keep running the car. But it’s a great experience and surprisingly, the food is good and people are really friendly. And it is very reasonably priced.
One of the Boston TV stations, Ch. 5, ABC, recently did a profile of the Mendon Drive-In on a local news feature. It was pointed out that digital projection has been installed and that sometimes the place is so busy that cars have to be turned away.
Was there for the first time ever Saturday night.
Over an hour drive but it was worth it.
Will go back if there is a good double feature
Saw The Other Guys
And Dinner For Schmucks,
Was amazed how much drive ins have changed.
Have not been to a trive in in over 30 years.
There was a feature story last night on the Mendon Drive-In on one of the local Boston TV stations, although I can’t recall which one – Ch. 4 ?, 5?, 7?, Fox ?? The Mgr. was a woman who has been there for several years. The place appeared to be busy and it was very definitley touted as a “family entertainment” attraction. The patrons interviewed all seemed to be very pleased to be there. It was said that the admission is $20 per carload.
Now that the Mendon Drive-In is a popular site for family audiences, you have to remember that during the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, this locale was known as the Milford Drive-In. While they may have shown Disney double-features on certain weeks, the majority of the product consisted of biker movies, horror, R-rated sex comedies (Pom-Pom Girls, et al) and B-grade action movies. Once Interstate Theatres sold the property to the current owners, the environment changed to become what it is today. I should go back and look at old copies of the Milford Daily News or the South Middlesex News to see some of their ads.