Rigsby Drive-In
2831 Rigsby Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78222
2831 Rigsby Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78222
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Opened with 5 colour cartoons(not named), and “Sands of Iwo Jima”.
The Rigsby drive-in opened on April 15th, 1950. Grand opening ad posted.
Here is a 1955 aerial photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y9q79dt
This is from the San Antonio Express in April 1950:
San Antonio’s biggest drive-in theater, the new Rigsby, opens Saturday night. This is the fourth theater opened in San Antonio by the Landsman-Richter Enterprises, now incorporated into Statewide Drive-In Theaters.
The screen at the Rigsby towers eight stories high with a 200-ton steel and concrete foundation. Sound for the Rigsby will be furnished by the latest model electronic individual car speakers, fed by six miles of underground cable. Vivian Farold Munson, former R.C.A. sound engineer, supervises their operation.
The snack bar and restrooms are located in the center of the parking area, and have glazed tile walls throughout. Directly in front of the screen is a playground for children, fenced in for their safety. The Rigsby has benches provided in addition to the automobile parking space. This bench seating capacity is equal in size to that of an average neighborhood theater.
In 1963, the Rigsby was operated by Statewide Drive-In Theaters, which also ran the Alamo, Mission, Twin and South Loop. These were all drive-ins and were all in San Antonio.
This was the only segregated drive-in in San Antonio when first opened. After San Antonio became desegregated in 1954, the theatre was opened to everyone. It didn’t last very long, closing in the mid 60’s.