Hiway 55 Drive-In
3205 Eminence Pike,
Shelbyville,
KY
40065
3205 Eminence Pike,
Shelbyville,
KY
40065
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Additional Info
Previous Names: New Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The New Drive-In was opened on April 17, 1956 with Spencer Tracy in “Bad Day at Black Rock” & Ralph Meeker in “Kiss Me Deadly”. It was located on Highway 55 (aka Taylorsville Road), and was on Eminence Pike on the west side of the highway. Nine days after opening it was announced that via a naming contest, it would be re-named Highway 55 Drive-In. It was closed on October 14, 1982 with Michael McKean in “Young Doctors in Love”. All that is left of the drive-in is part of the entrance road.
Contributed by
David Zornig
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
3205 Eminence Pike, Shelbyville, KY 40065 works better for this Drive-In. 3058 takes you about a mile north of the Drive-In on Google Maps.
Thanks for posting. I actually forgot to subscribe to this theatre that I contributed.
This Drive-In was located on the west side of Highway 55, almost exactly four miles north of US 60 at Shelbyville, Ky. It was was built in 1955, managed by W. M. Curtis for the owner, James Head of Lexington, Kentucky. In 1974 Curtis resigned to work for the post office at Shelbyville. Old aerial photographs show the Drive-In still visible in 1985, but probably closed. The projection building was still standing in 1997 but by 2004 had been replaced by a house, with nothing visible of the Drive-In except for a bit of lane leading off of Hwy 55 at 38.260331° -85.202152°. The lane is still visible in 2021. It is near the north west corner of the drive-in grounds, and close to where the rear of the screen was located. A house and garage now sits approximately on the location of the old projection building.
This started life as the New Drive-In on April 17, 1956 with “Bad Day At Black Rock” and “Kiss Me Deadly” (unknown if extras added), and was first managed by W.M. Curtis. It was renamed the Hiway 55 Drive-In nine days later after a theater naming contest was held at the theater. The name was selected by J.T. Smither of Pleasureville. The second and third place names went with “Parkview” and “North Star”.
The Hiway 55 Drive-In closed for the final time on October 14, 1982 with “Young Doctors In Love” and was last managed by Charlotte Groves.