El-Co Drive-In
1600 Main Street,
Shattuck,
OK
73858
1600 Main Street,
Shattuck,
OK
73858
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Garland Wilson built the Drive-In in 1952 with a name-the-theater contest prior to launching. The winning name was the fusion of Ellis County Oklahoma or the El-Co. It opened with 182 spaces for cars on May 18, 1952 with Dinah Shore in “Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.”
Boxoffice reports that C A Crouch owned the El-Co Jul 5 1976.
The El-Co’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1955 edition, capacity 140, owner Garland Wilson. (The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog had the same info except its capacity was 141.) It stayed that way through at least 1966. The El-Co was still on the list in the 1976 edition of the MPA, but was gone by 1978, never to return.
The viewing area was still visible in HistoricAerial.com’s 1995 photo at the southeast corner of what is now E0520 Road and Main Street. (Thanks, Kenmore!) Buildings had replaced it by the 2003 photo.
The Drive-In was located south of the town approximately 1600 Main Street on the SE corner. There are no remains of the drive-in and a building sits on the location. https://goo.gl/maps/N4wyI