Ribault Drive-In
4819 Soutel Drive,
Jacksonville,
FL
32208
4819 Soutel Drive,
Jacksonville,
FL
32208
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 15 comments
Most of the property is still open and mostly undeveloped. Although a significant portion was landscaped.
You can see rows of trees which grew from the ramps. The entrance/exit road is now connected as a parking area for a church on the east side and a academy on the west side.
Closed 1981
Opened on June 8th, 1951. Grand opening ad posted.
The Ribault Drive-In is notable for an August 24, 1957 advertisement containing a quadruple run with films that began with the word “Hell”, and a r**ing investigation from the Jacksonville Police Department, reporting of a man and a little girl at the playground section of the Ribault Drive-In on March 3, 1955. Its opening/closing dates were not discovered yet.
The entry/exit roads still exist, and so does part of the concreate screen foundation.
Boxoffice, Feb. 8, 1960: “Carlton J. Carter has taken over operation of the local Ribault and Air Base drive-ins, which have been operated for the past several months by Irving Sochin.”
400 cars
Davidcoppock, The Ribault Drive-in was located in the NW part of Jacksonville, near the Ribault River, thus a number of businesses in that part of Jacksonville used the Ribault name. The Ribault name comes from the French explorer, JEAN RIBAULT, who was credited for exploring parts of the SE US, and claiming territory for France. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ribault
Why the name Ribault?
Eastern Federal owned and operated the Ribault Drive-In in its early years, but closed it when operating cost exceeded revenue. They leased it out to a couple independent operators while I was in Jacksonville from late 1980 to late 1984 with Eastern Federal.
1950s photo added courtesy of Loyd Sandgren.
When I worked for eastern federal at the midway and fox drive in, the DM came to us and said that the drive ins just was not making it, (money), at the time and shut all drive ins and some indoors at the same time. What a bummer. That really takes the wind out of your sails.
Also once an Eastern Federal Theater.
I think you may have something there. The address is right so a church may have built all over it. I need to go check it out.
I don’t know how recent it is, but if you go to Google Maps, type in
4819 Soutel Drive Jacksonville,Fl and click Satellite for the satellite picture, the Ribault still lives!
The obvious layout of the drive-in remains.