Merced Tioga Drive-In
3021 Gurr Road,
Atwater,
CA
95301
3021 Gurr Road,
Atwater,
CA
95301
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It looks like United California bought the Tioga in April or May 1955 to shut down its competition with its three other Merced theaters (the Starlight Drive-In, Merced, and Strand).
Looking through back issues of the Merced Sun-Star, the last Tioga ad I could find was for “The Harlem Globetrotters” on Oct. 2, 1954. United California’s other theaters advertised in 1955, but not the Tioga. Although the Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in list continued to include the Tioga for years, United California’s holdings section did not mention the Tioga.
A closer address is 3021 Gurr Rd, Atwater, CA.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
The drive-in looks intact and operational in a 1957 aerial. But the aerial the following year does make it look a little unkempt. By 1984, the drive-in had been totally demolished.
Today, the southern half has a home while the northern half is an open field with lots of rocks scattered about. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/ye2tsbnm
The Tioga Drive-In opened on March 8th, 1949, as the first drive-in in the Merced area. Grand opening ad posted.
I finally found this one ,it was actually located outside Merced to the NW in Atwater. The address is 3020 Gurr Rd, Atwater 95301. It was in a 1958 aerial but doesn’t look in good shape. It may have ceased operating when the bigger drive-in opened closer to town? Currently half the site is occupied by a house and the other half is a bare dirt lot, nothing remains of the drive-in.