64 Drive-In
5201 S. Cherokee Street,
Muskogee,
OK
74403
5201 S. Cherokee Street,
Muskogee,
OK
74403
1 person
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Two competing drive-in theaters were constructed in 1947 in Muskogee. The first to open was the P&M Drive-In by Proctor & Marsh Circuit (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). The second was four miles south of town on a 12-acre lot and was to be the Bell Drive-In. However, veteran operator O.L. Sullivan took on the project mid-construction christening it the 64 Drive-In launching in August of 1948. By 1957 it was operated by Rowley United Theatres Inc.
The two theatres were combined in the same portfolio with the downtown cinemas. The P&M was closed in 1958 after ten years. But the town has a second ozoner. The Sunset Drive-In (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures) followed and would outlast the 64 Drive-In which eventually closed.
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Found it! A good address for the site is 5201 S Cherokee St, the southwest corner of 53rd Street & US 64.
The drive-in was outlined in a 1978 topo map, but a 1980 aerial photo shows a building there that looks a lot like the building there today. That aerial still showed hints of ramps, but I don’t see them now.
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “MUSKOGEE, OKLA. — A new 600-car capacity drive-in, covering an area of 12 acres four miles south of here on Highway 64, has been completed by O. F. Sullivan, Wichita theatre operator.”
(That was former Wichita mayor Odom Farrell Sullivan, BTW.)
Motion Picture Herald, April 29, 1950: “The 64 drive-in theatre south of Muskogee on U. S. Highway 64 is operating under new management, but will continue to operate on its usual schedule “rain or shine.” C. C. Noecker, formerly of Michigan, and his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Miller, have purchased the theatre from O. E. (sic) Sullivan, who will devote his full time to management of his theatres in Wichita, Kans."
A 1973 aerial shows the drive-in intact, but it does not appear to be open. At the back of the drive-in are some trailers which may indicate that it had been closed for some time.