Beverly Drive-In
Old Airport Eoad and Edwards Street,
Hattiesburg,
MS
39401
Old Airport Eoad and Edwards Street,
Hattiesburg,
MS
39401
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: N & S Theater Drive-Ins
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 1, 2010 — Closed Beverly Drive-in in Hattiesburg razed by fire
- Aug 24, 2006 — Fate uncertain for Beverly Drive-In
Opened May 29, 1948 with Sonny Tufts in “Swell Guy”. The historic Beverly Drive-In ran successfully for decades. In 1955 it was operated by H. Hargroder and had an 800 car capacity. On March 30, 1979 a second screen was added, but in 1987, the theater’s owner passed away suddenly and the theater was forced to close.
Thanks to the efforts of Jim Norton and Barbara Suick, who own seven drive-in theaters in Florida and Wisconsin, the Beverly Drive-In reopened on May 15 2001, years after its last season came to an end. Norton and Suick’s N&S Theater Drive-Ins is one of the largest drive-in chains in the country, and their eight theaters are among the roughly 600 left in the United States. The two are leasing the Beverly Drive-In from the daughter of the original owner.
The Beverly Drive-In was reopened as a first-run twin theater and now contains 500 parking spaces with two large screens, one measuring 100 x 75 feet and another measuring 80 x 40 feet.
It was destroyed by a fire in October 2010.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
You’re welcome. I drove by the Beverly while in Hattiesburg just a few weeks ago. It is so sad to read the news article about its destruction. It was the second drive-in that was opened in this state. I kept hoping someone would reopen it. There are only two operating drive ins left in this state now. At one time there were four in my area(Beach, Do, Don & Moonlite)alone. All gone now.
Can anyone please tell me if there is anything left on the site of the Beverly Drive-In? I’m driving across the state documenting drive-in’s, both operating and abandoned sites, and the photographs I’ve seen of this site looks really interesting
The Beverly screen tower and the home under it was destroyed in a fire. The concession and booth building was demolished. There is nothing left but a empty field. The vacant land is for sale
You may want to change the address, it is off about 6 miles Southeast of the Drive-In location. A better address would be U.S. Highway 49 and Edwards Street. The location shows the foundation of the screen concession stand and the golf course.
The home built beneath the screen had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a sun porch.
A better address is:
Old Airport Rd & Edwards Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
According to the website All the Mississippi, the address for this Drive-in is 5320 U.S. Highway 49 Hattiesburg, MS 39401. Edwards Street is Business Highway 49.
Please update.
A little trivia. This theater was named for the Hargroder’s daughter Beverly, with whom I attended the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg in 1970-71.
A much closer address (for Google Maps) is Old Airport Rd & Edwards Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401.
The problem with the 5320 U.S. Highway 49 Hattiesburg, MS address is that Edwards Street is “Business Highway 49”, not “U.S. Highway 49”. So Google maps it to the northwest of the city, not the southeast where the drive-in is located.
http://tinyurl.com/jofwhhb
This opened on May 29th, 1948. Grand opening ad already up.
2 screens on March 30th, 1979. Grand opening ad in the photo section.