Bartow Drive-In

The Outdoor Theatre was opened on October 18, 1949, screening the 1948 drama “Bodyguard” with Lawrence Tierney and Priscilla Lane and the 1948 drama “King of the Gamblers” with Janet Martin and William Wright. It had a capacity for 275-cars with Ballantine in-a-car speakers. The new ozoner was opened by James & Juila Raulerson and their son Grant. I believe at this time he was also operating the Rex Theatre in Tampa, FL. Raulerson also operated the Outdoor Theatre in Clearwater, FL. James Raulerson died in January of 1966. In April 1966 the screen tower was damaged when a squall line of thunderstorms that went through Polk County. The drive-in started screening XXX movies in the early-1970’s They also had a flea market on Saturdays and Sundays. In July of 1972 the Bartow Outdoor Theatre was twinned.

In May of 1974, Julia Raulerson sold the outdoor theatre to Harold Turbyfill (dba Drive-In Theatres of Florida Inc.). On December 12, 1978, it was sold to Wilbur R. Acord. After this the property was sold many times over. The theatre got raided several times for screening obscene movies but all charges were dropped. At some point a small indoor theatre was built at the outdoor theatre. In October of 1978, they were raided for screening 16mm adult movies. The charges were dropped because the Polk County Sheriff seized the film without a search warrant. In looking at movie advertisements, it appears they stopped screening adult movies on July 18, 1987. After that it was just used as a flea market. In 2016, the property was cleared and it is the site of S&S Welding & Fabrication.

GPS Coordinates: 27.860976,-81.828096

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