Chief Drive-In
1502 W. 5th Street,
Friona,
TX
79035
1502 W. 5th Street,
Friona,
TX
79035
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The Friona Star shows that the Chief Drive-in opened on Tuesday, May 19, 1953, with the show, “Seminole” starring Barbara Hale and Rock Hudson. The owners and operators of the drive-in were Marvin and Mary Lawson. There were 400 adults present at the opening night along with a large number of young people. On March 21, 1957, Bill McGlothlin, owner of the Elk Drive-in, bought the Chief Drive-in from Mr. and Mrs. Lawson. Mr. McGlothlin said tentative plans were to open the Chief during the summer and fall months. Evidently, the Chief Drive-in did not re-open in 1957 and remained closed. The screen was destroyed in the tornado of 1960.
The Chief was the first drive-in to open in Friona. It was advertising in the (Farwell) State Line Tribune on Aug. 6, 1953, on the same page as an article about Bill McGlothin building a 240-250-car drive-in, “second in Friona”.
A USGS photo taken Sept. 16, 1954 showed two drive-ins on opposite sides of US 60 west of Friona. Another USGS photo 24 years later showed only the drive-in on the west side intact; there was no trace of the drive-in on the east side of US 60.
Based on accounts of the tornado that hit Friona on Oct. 11, 1960, the Chief had already closed, but its neighbor to the west, the Elk was still active.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote the next day, “The first funnel struck about 4:40 p.m. at the Elk Drive-In Theater, knocking down speaker posts and toppling the screen. … The funnel then moved across U. S. Highway 60 into an old drive-in theater being used as a trailer parking lot, where it lashed the six trailers.” The Monitor of McAllen TX agreed.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported the opposite sequence. “One of the theaters demolished was an abandoned one … The twister crossed U. S. Hwy. 60 and slammed into the Elk Drive-In Theater, scattering the pink theater as far as the eye could see. Only a few scattered steel speaker poles were left standing at the theater. Both the projector house and snack bar were destroyed.”
A housing development occupies the former Chief site today, address 1502 W 5th St, Friona, TX.
There was a drive-in at U.S. 60 and State Loop 270. I don’t know if it’s the Chief or the Elks.