Family Drive-In

18049 Ames Trail,
Faribault, MN 55021

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Family Drive-In

The Family Drive-In was opened in 1955, operated by Watters & Nash. It was closed in the mid to late-1980’s. Now an empty field. No trace except part of the entrance road is now the southeast end of Ames Trail.

Contributed by James Monroe

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on April 27, 2021 at 5:54 pm

There are some rare crossing signals on the trail

Kenmore
Kenmore on April 27, 2021 at 8:30 pm

A 1991 aerial shows the remnants of the drive-in. It appears to be quite large.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on November 27, 2022 at 7:34 am

It appears that it closed sometime in the mid or late 1980s.

Kenmore
Kenmore on November 27, 2022 at 2:01 pm

A closer address is 18049 Ames Trail, Faribault, MN.

The entrance road never connected with Faribault Boulevard. A 1961 topo maps shows the drive-in connecting to Ames Trail which is confirmed by a 1984 aerial. And while the address is slightly east of the entrance road, it is pretty close.

Today, only faint parch marks remain of a few ramps and the beginning of the entrance road. Otherwise, the property is now a field used for growing crops.

https://tinyurl.com/bdd4aj4b

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on September 2, 2023 at 4:11 pm

Motion Picture Herald, June 11, 1955: “Drive-In Theatre Co. of Sioux Falls, S. D., will build a 650-car drive-in at Faribault, Minn. John Watters of Fairmont, Minn., will manage the project.”

Years earlier, Nash-Watters built Fairmont’s Family Drive-In. I guess they liked the name.

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