Lexington Drive-In
901 Grimes Boulevard,
Lexington,
NC
27292
901 Grimes Boulevard,
Lexington,
NC
27292
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 16 comments
Opened with some “Tom and Jerry cartoons(names and number of cartoons unknown?)”, And “This time for keeps”.
901 Grimes Boulevard, Lexington NC 27292 will map directly to the vacant land where this drive-in once stood.
@dcallahan have pictures to share?
Hi, I can tell anyone anything they’d like to know about this theater. My grandfather opened it, and my father and his brothers worked there until they went to college.
Grand opening was on April 21, 1949 (2 pages of ads in The Dispatch)
If you look at any of the overhead views of the site you will see a triangular-shaped piece of land where two major roads converge. Some comment that the theater lot was paved for trucks to park in. That is incorrect- the triangle was once a major truck stop before the new I-85 was completed. That truck stop has also been demolished. The actual site of the movie theater was to the immediate north/north-east of the truck stop. It is nothing but light woods now, the screen and buildings have long been removed.
The Lexington Drive-In was actually between Anna Lewis Drive (the new hospital is off of this drive) and Old Salisbury Road (which is Old Hwy 29). It was right down the road from the Highway Patrol Station.
I have it at…Grimes Rd & Salisbury Rd. Lexington, NC 27292
It was located across from where the new Lexington Memorial Hospital is now. It was near the DMV Office on Old Hwy 29 coming out of downtown Lexington. While doing my research a couple of years ago, I was fortunate to find a lady in Lexington that knew the Callahan’s. I was able to email back and forth with one of the sons and am now friends with him on Facebook. I could show you exactly where the Lexington Drive-In was located. I loved that place!
I hate that the Cinema 8 is now closed too. My husband and I were there one night and another guy came in. Right before the movie started, 2 more guys came in. They sat down in front of this guy. He said, “For God’s sake, don’t sit in front of me.” They had almost any seat in the theater and sat down right in front of this guy. It was really funny.
Lisa, could you give us an approximate location where this drive-in was? I am familiar with Lexington as my family owns a house on High Rock, but we didn’t buy it until 1990, so I have no memories of the drive-in being open. I went to the Cinema 8 near Biscuit King many a time though. Even though I know it’s exactly why it closed, I always thought it was cool to be the only person in the theater for a showing, which happened a lot at the Cinema 8 unfortunately.
The Lexington Drive-In is now demolished! I hated to see it go! I had so much fun there! I love Drive-Ins!
Does anyone have a decent address for this theater? There isn’t a Route 5 in Lexington, NC that I am aware of…
This theater was built in 1949 by realtor John W. Callahan, Jr. He operated the drive-in until 1980 when he sold the property.
The Dispatch from Sept 4,1956
I am working on a research project for school on Drive-In Movie Theaters in NC! Any information that anyone has would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Great.I remember going to the Drive-ins in Hendersonville,N.C. and always would grab more than one playbill.I saved so much stuff,but i remember cutting them up for the movie picture,never realizing to save the whole playbill.