Blackford Drive-In
3811 S. State Road 3,
Hartford City,
IN
47348
3811 S. State Road 3,
Hartford City,
IN
47348
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The Blackford Drive-In opened its gates in 1952.
On July 16, 1981, an Anderson 25-year-old man filed a suit in Blackford County Small Claims Court alleging that employees at the theater assaulted his ex-wife and damaged his 1966 unknown-modeled car back in June 1981. According to the police report released by Blackford County Sheriff, he drove into a mini-screen and knocked over several speaker poles when he and his former wife were exiting the theater to escape resulting extensive damage. The sheriff said that his vehicle’s windshield was shattered while he and two employees were attempting to stop the victim. His girl was allegedly thrown out of the car and onto the pavement by a drive-in employee. He stole police that his car struck the poles but did not seriously damage them. He said that he gave the victim $50 to pay for the poles but that the theater owner returned the money and demanded a larger sum. No criminal charges were filed at the time of the hearing.
After 16 long years as an adult theater, the Blackford Drive-in closed for the final time after the 1986 season for good due to an April 16, 1987 agreement that adult films won’t be shown at the theater anymore due to previous incidents involving police raids throughout March 1986 when it seized two adult films. Unfortunately the theater never reopened for the 1987 season and beyond.
In addition to the faint indication of ramps to the south of the building, you can also see the remains of the original entrance road and the foundation of the ticket booth.
However, a 1983 aerial shows something quite unusual in the SE corner of the drive-in. It looks like an autoscope was installed. Given it’s location, it appears that the autoscope operated at the same time the main drive-in did which would make it most unusual.
By 1994, the drive-in had been demolished and a go-kart track installed. Today, there is no evidence of the autoscope remaining.