Harrisburg Drive-In
6100 Allentown Boulevard,
Harrisburg,
PA
17112
6100 Allentown Boulevard,
Harrisburg,
PA
17112
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The Harrisburg Drive-In was located 5 miles east of Harrisburg on Route 22 as the newspaper advertisements explained.
More specifically it was situated on a large piece of land between Route 22 (now Allentown Boulevard) and Jonestown Road. Beside the property ran S. Mountain Road. that crossed Route 22 and ran into the then-small village of Linglestown. It was opened on May 29, 1950 with Jane Wyman in “The Lady Takes a Sailor”. It was operated by Thomas & Paul Kerrigan.
The entrance was a large and rather impressive drive-through structure with a small marquee to the side. It was set at the corner of Route 22 and S. Mountain Road. There was a short driveway to several ticket kiosks and from there one could find a spot on the large (600 cars) parking area that fanned out from the screen.
There was a playground in front of the screen and exits beside it to Jonestown Road. Another exit was at the side of the parking area to Mountain Road.
Around 1953 two panels were added to the already huge screen to convert it to CinemaScope and other wide-screen processes.
I had moved out of Harrisburg by this time. My grandfather had been Justice of the Peace for Lower Paxton township and we moved into his home on Jonestown Road. just down from the drive-in. It was a somewhat rural area at the time and the owners used to let kids in the neighborhood wander in to watch movies from the back rows (though the screen seemed about a mile away from there).
The Harrisburg Drive-In shared a similar-style advertisement with the Keystone Drive-In in the Harrisburg newspapers, as they were both operated by the Kerrigan brothers.
The Harrisburg Drive-In was closed on September 6, 1987 with Mark Harmon in “Summer School” & Frankie Avalon in “Back to the Beach”. It survived as a flea market for a time and then was razed to make way for a strip mall.
Contributed by
Ross Care
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
They do they are the Kerrigan brothers,, a nice bunch of people.. I was a projectionist when thier father ran the theatre, then they leased it to UA, until the sons took it back Great booth XLs and Strong Futura II lamps RCA sound and a huge generator that sounded like a plane taking off when you started it….
Ads for the Harrisburg and Keystone Drive-Ins, both showing CinemaScope films: View link
PS: Click on ads to ENLARGE.
I have fond memories of this Drive In. My parents took all of us to this drive in, in the 50s. My sisters & brothers & myself used to love playing on the swings which were right under the screen. I later went on dates that took me there in the 60s. I also enjoyed the Flea Market they had there on Sundays. I wish it was still there. I would be taking my Grandchildren. Karns Market sits there now, along with a bank, a Burger King and a few other stores. I miss the good old days.
Launched June 2, 1950 by Thomas and Paul Kerrigan who were also debuting their Hi-Way Drive-In in Frackville, PA at the same time.
I wish someone could find a photo.
I grew up less than a mile from the Harrisburg Drive-In and saw a huge number of movies there. I also played on the swings in the daytime. My parents would take me in our car, and there were typically double features. The films would often be a few years old, but we didn’t mind. The refreshment stand snacks were yummy, and the theater promoted the refreshment stand aggressively. The speakers that provided the in-car sound weren’t the greatest, but they were functional. One of the main promotions was $1 a carload night. As a kid just walking to a spot at the back of the lot to see a movie without paying, I recall usually being chased out of there a lot by the management. With this coronavirus horror, I wish that drive-ins would make a comeback.
It opened on May 29th, 1950. Grand opening ad posted.
Last season: 1987.
Closed permanently following a double feature of “Summer School” and “Back to the Beach” on September 6, 1987.