Sunset Drive-In
411 S. Amherst Road,
Earth,
TX
79031
411 S. Amherst Road,
Earth,
TX
79031
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The Sunset Drive-In was owned by E. T. (Ted) Borum. He also owned the Earth Theatre, an indoor theater in town and the drive-in located in Amherst. He showed both English and Spanish language films. It was opened on July 20, 1952. It was closed on November 17, 1968 with Mike Henry in “Tarzan and the Jungle Boy”.
In 1969 a tornado damaged the screen tower and it never reopened. As of 2016, the concession building is standing after all of the years. A home is built on the front part of the property.
Contributed by
driveinfan
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
Although Google Street View lists the address as 302 South Amherst Road, Earth, TX, it does not map that way. So, the current address is about as close as I could get.
In addition to the concession stand, there is a structure where the ticket booth once stood. Whether it is the same, has been modified, or is a completely new building I do not know.
Billboard, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Sunset Drive-In has been opened at Earth, Tex., by E. Ted Borum. The theater has a 252-car capacity.”
According to the Earth News-Sun newspaper on November 4, 1971, Ted Borum who owned the Sunset Drive-in Theatre sold his theatre equipment for the drive-in. The land and building where the drive-in theatre is located are for sale.
The Earth News-Sun on July 20, 1978, states that Ted Borum opened his drive-in theatre, the Sunset Drive-in in 1952. While it was under construction, it was the first one in the U.S. known to enable theatre goers to use the speaker in the rear seat of their car for betting toning quality.
The 2022 Google Earth view shows the concession building no longer there.
A closer address is 411 South Amherst Road, Earth, TX.
Google Maps has recently added the address, which sits right on the property.
https://tinyurl.com/ym8jcx6c
It appears that the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand has been removed or covered up.
Ted Borum closed the Earth Theatre permanently on September 30, 1971 and sold off the equipment from both the Earth and the Sunset - which was damaged in 1969 storm. The last advertised film for the Sunset Drive-in appears to be “Tarzan and His Boy” on November 17, 1968.
The screen faced the northwest which was unusual since the light from the setting sun would shine on the screen. Most (but not all) drive-ins face their screens in some variation to the east.
With the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand now gone, the only remnant of the drive-in remaining is part of the entrance road. Although difficult to tell, the ticket booth appears to be gone as well. With a simple steel roof structure acting as a car port in its place.