Star-Lite Drive-In
2624 E. Erwin Street,
Tyler,
TX
75702
2624 E. Erwin Street,
Tyler,
TX
75702
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Located on E. Erwin Street inside of S. SE Loop 323. The Star-Lite Drive-In opened in 1947. Located on Kilgore Avenue (Old Kilgore Highway) it was the first drive-in theatre in Tyler. It was operated by Leon Theatres Ct. (T. Leon and later by C.D. Leon). It was closed in 1958.
Contributed by
MIKE RIVEST
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Grand opening ad posted.
Google maps exactly to: 2624 E Erwin St, Tyler, TX 75702 There is a Ryder truck rental on the sight now. The Theater shows up on the 1947 and 1965 historic aerials. Could this theater have had a longer run than advertised? Can we get the address above changed?
Opened on 25th February 1949 with a Woody Woodpecker cartoon (not named) and “On an island with you”.
The 1965 aerial does show the drive-in intact. However, there are a couple of things that make me believe it was not operational.
First, the screen is still square as common in the pre-widescreen era. Many drive-ins had converted to widescreen by the late 1950s. However, not all of them had as a few kept their old square screens.
Second, there are a couple of thin ditches on the east side of the property. The lines are not shadows and I’m not sure what they are for. But an operational drive-in would not have such ditches on the entrance side.