Hands Drive-In
US-80 and Syrup Mill Road,
Minden,
LA
71055
US-80 and Syrup Mill Road,
Minden,
LA
71055
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 3 comments
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that “E. B. Hand has opened his Hand Drive-In in Minden, La., making two drive-ins in the town of 6,677 persons. There are three other theatres there.”
The address given above is incorrect. That is the address for the Joy Drive-In, which is a completely different drive-in, located in the same town.
Hand’s Drive-In was built by Edgar Hand, and was open as early as 1946. It was originally called just “Drive-In” or “Minden Drive-In.” When the newer Joy Drive-In opened in 1952, the name of the older drive-in was changed that same year from “Minden Drive-In” to “Hand’s Drive-In,” probably to avoid public confusion between the two drive-ins near Minden.
It is uncertain exactly when Hand’s Drive-In closed, but it stops appearing in theatre catalogs around 1958. Minden was probably not big enough to support both drive-ins, and Joy Drive-In was located five miles closer to town, plus it may have had better facilities being a newer drive-in.
The correct address for Hand’s Drive-In was:
US-80 at Syrup Mill Rd Minden, LA 71055
The drive-in was about five miles west of town, on what used to be referred to as Shreveport Highway, but is now US-80.
HERE is an aerial photo of the drive-in from 1949, courtesy of USGS & Earth Explorer.
The property is currently undeveloped and overgrown. An outline of the drive-in is still barely visible on Google Earth, along with the vague shape of parking ramps. No structures remain on the property.
The address for this drive-in was 1500 Shreveport Road.