Willis Drive-In

545 Concord Parkway N.,
Concord, NC 28027

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Additional Info

Previous Names: New Drive-In

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Racially-motivated bombing.

The New Drive-In was opened on April 29, 1955 with Richard Bartlett in “The Silver Star” & The Bowery Boys in “High Society”. It was renamed Willis Drive-In the following day.

In 1955 J.O. Willis already operated three drive-in theatres in Concord, NC. The Carolina Drive-In which had a capacity for 292 cars, the Concord Drive-In which was located on Highway 29 and had a capacity for 302 cars, and the Starlite Drive-In which had a capacity for 312 cars.

Contributed by raysson

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

NYozoner
NYozoner on December 2, 2014 at 8:30 pm

545 Concord Pkwy N
Concord, NC 28027

The site of the drive-in is now a K-Mart.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on October 23, 2024 at 1:55 pm

This started life as the New Drive-In on April 29, 1955 with Richard Bartlett in “The Silver Star” and the Bowery Boys in “High Society” along with an unnamed Tom And Jerry cartoon. This was due to the theater not having a name yet, but was quickly renamed the Willis Drive-In the following day after a theater naming contest.

  • NOTE: Concord had a total of six drive-in theaters in its history, but I could be wrong though. There is the Carolina, the Concord Airport, the Newton Conover, the Poplar, the Starlite, and the Willis.
50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on October 23, 2024 at 4:44 pm

I found two drive-ins on Highway 29. One appears to be the Concord Drive-In and there’s another one exactly one mile south of it which could be either the Carolina or the Starlite.

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