99 East Drive-In
3999 N. Wilson Way,
Stockton,
CA
95205
3999 N. Wilson Way,
Stockton,
CA
95205
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Golden State Theater & Realty Corp., T & D Jr. Enterprises
Previous Names: "99" Drive-In, Highway 99 Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The “99” Drive-In was opened on June 1, 1949 with John Garfield in “Body and Soul. It was operated by Michael Naify & T & D Jr. Enterprises. By 1952 it was known as the Highway 99 Dricve-In and was still operated by T & D Jr. Enterprises who had been joined by Golden States Theatres. By 1954, the 99 East Drive-In was operated by United California Theatres out of San Francisco.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
I went to this place all the time as a kid! My mum and her boyfriend (later my stepdad) went about two weekends a month, and almost always took me. That was way back when they still had the old speaker you had to put inside your car window! We’d often get take-out food (often from the Chicken Kitchen!) to go and eat in the car, before digging into delicious snacks we had brought for our ‘dessert/movie treats’. I remember when I was about 7 we saw a double feature of “Footloose” and “Breakin”!!!! I have such fond memories of this place. Even as a teen in the early 90’s I went a few times with my aunt and Uncle. I guess it shut down shortly after that. I know it became pretty ‘ghetto’, as of course all of Stockton did. I left that town just about the same time the drive-in did!
It just breaks my heart that drive-ins don’t exist anymore. They were so fun. So sad that kids of today have no idea what it was like. I’ll never understand why they don’t make a comeback. I guess because there aren’t many people who want to go sit in their car to watch movies when they could sit in an air-conditioned cinema to see all the new technology (like this new 3-D cr*p…remember JAWS 3? Now THAT was 3-D!) and pay WAY too much for concessions. Whatever.
Up until the mid to late 2000’s (I know it was still there in 2005) we still had a drive-in in Sacramento, I used to make my boyfriend at the time go with me. He didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as I did, but then again he was younger than me so he didn’t really go much as as kid like I did. I remember being really sad when I heard that one had shut down, for some reason I’m thinking it was the last one in Northern CA that had still been operating?
Oh, the memories. I wish they didn’t have to just be memories, but at least I have that.
The address above is the racetrack next door. Approx. address would be 3931 N. Wilson Way.
The concession building appears to still be on-site.
The site is now Stockton Flooring and Advanced Trailer Sales and Service.
This opened as the 99 Theatre on June 1st, 1949. Grand opening ad posted.
The drive-in featured two buildings. One of which was the projector booth/concession stand and another structure was in the back corner of the drive-in on the north side.
The building in the back was gone in a 1982 aerial, but the projection booth/concession stand survived until at least 2010. By 2012, only the foundation remained. Today, you can just barely see an outline of the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand.