Historic Houston Drive-In Theaters

[4PROP]

Nice map, but...

The South Main and McClendon Drive-In's are in the right locations but each is on the wrong side of South Main, and the Sharpstown was on the north side of Bellaire.

Hi 57! You are so right, as usual.

http://www.historicaerials.com/Default.aspx?poi=4242

[Heights2Bastrop]

Want to find drive-in locations? Want to see Houston as it was in 1955, and in other years? Want to see how Houston roads evolved from haphazard, segmented lanes into superhighways?

Well, do I have a site for you!

I have known about the UT Perry-Casta

[Subdude]

If you look at OST just east of South Main, there is an abandoned racetrack shown. Is that the old Arrowhead Park? I

[WillowBend56]

Neat maps! That 1955 topo one shows the area around the South Main Drive-in on the eve of the big residential explosion in that part of Houston. Those were great years.

I too knew about this UT map collection but had not explored the Houston maps as much as others.

[Heights2Bastrop]

I remember KPRC being in the Quonset hut on Post Oak just north of Richmond. When the West Loop was built later, you could see the building from the freeway. However, I don

[NenaE]

Wow, what a GREAT map, so highly detailed...thnx for that link!

[Polo Bandit]

Are there any maps from this time that show more to the north? I'm trying to find an old map of where I live, but it's JUST to the north of where the map cuts off

[Heights2Bastrop]

Are there any maps from this time that show more to the north? I'm trying to find an old map of where I live, but it's JUST to the north of where the map cuts off

Look at the corners of the map as well as right in the middle of all sides. The name there is the name of the adjacent map. As I said, the name of the map showing downtown Houston is

[FilioScotia]

I remember KPRC being in the Quonset hut on Post Oak just north of Richmond. When the West Loop was built later, you could see the building from the freeway. However, I don

[Native Son]

thanks, this has ben great fun since my office is closed today

[Heights2Bastrop]

I made another discovery recently on the UT Library site. They have begun scanning Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and putting them on the site. They are just now in the Bs, so Austin and Bastrop maps are there for viewing.

These maps show buildings, the type of construction, and conditions pertaining to fire safety, such as water tanks (for fire extinguishing) and whether a man is on premises 24 hours.

What is neat is to see how the city evolved in the period from 1885 to 1921, the dates the maps cover for Bastrop. It also shows how some things don

[tapintx]

EXCELLENT thread!

In the mid 1980s when I was a kid I saw the abondonded remains of 2 of those drive in's on that map. The one at the HWY 225 and Red Bluff intersection had the screen still standing until sometime in the late 80s. I used to see it all of the time when we went to Pasadena.

The one off of S. Main still had some of the concession stand structure and the poles that held the speakers there back in the 80s as well. I wish I photos.

Anyone know when the power plant near S. Post Oak and S. Main was demolished and removed?

If you look in google maps the exact space of the power plant is still there. Nothing has been built on the site; an empty pad exists. Was there contamination in the soil?

A new residential area is built to the south and to the NE there is Houston sports complex.

I've seen it in a photo of Westbury taken from the air in 1960. Sam Houston airport was still alive back in 55....wow....Westbury South sits right on top of it these days.

I grew up in Pasadena and remember the Red Bluff Drive In. I went there many times with my parents, then after I got to be a teenager, it went to XXX Movies. That was kinda funny because they figured out really fast that they had to build a really big fence around it so people traveling down Red Bluff toward Hwy 225 wouldn't have an accident watching the screen.

They had a drive in on Shaver/Almeda Genoa...I think it was called Gulfway or something like that.

[LarryDallas]

it went to XXX Movies. That was kinda funny because they figured out really fast that they had to build a really big fence around it so people traveling down Red Bluff toward Hwy 225 wouldn't have an accident watching the screen.

XXX movie drive in???

I thought Pasadena was very much a conservative and kind of Texas small town country back in the 1960s and 70s. Guess I was wrong on that. That is such a cool bit of trivia. The paint job on that fence was red as I recall; perfect color.

[djrage]

I've been frequenting Historicaerials.com lately. Pretty addicted. Its facinating to see how certain areas have changed so much and being able to see what used to be in certain places. It allows you to compare from the 1950s up to about 2004. ANYWAY. I was looking over Pasadena and found what looked like it could have been a portion of a drive in on Red Bluff just east of the Beltway about midway before Red Bluff intersects with Pasadena Blvd. Well I took it all the way back to 1957 and found there was a drive in. Anyone know what drive in that was?

[capt. kirk]

Want to find drive-in locations? Want to see Houston as it was in 1955, and in other years? Want to see how Houston roads evolved from haphazard, segmented lanes into superhighways?

Well, do I have a site for you!

I have known about the UT Perry-Casta�eda Library Map Collection for years now, but for some reason, I have overlooked one section of the map collection until a few days ago. It is a collection of various series of topography maps of most of Texas.

There was a series done around 1915-16, one done in 1947-48, one done in 1955, and others at later dates. When you open a map, look at the four corners as well as midway along each side to see the adjacent map name.

For instance, the Houston series from 1955 has, from west to east, north to south, Houston Heights, Settegast (downtown) and Jacinto City, and then Bellaire, Park Place and Pasadena. Maps adjacent to this main area can be found as well, and most of the Houston Metropolitan Area is covered for all series.

THIS MAP shows the six areas above on one map from the 1955 series. If you look in the general area of where you remember a drive-in being, you will probably find its location and layout. Playland Park is shown, as are other locations mentioned here often.

If you look at OST just east of South Main, there is an abandoned racetrack shown. Is that the old Arrowhead Park? I�m still in doubt as to where it was exactly.

The maps from the different years will correspond with each other for the most part. The top left of the 1916 Heights map should be the same exact location of the 1955 Heights map. As you scroll across and down, and going back and forth between maps, you can see how old roads were altered into new roads, how some were rerouted and how others were simply obliterated by time.

I love looking at and downloading these old maps. The proof of that is that I am still on dial-up, and it takes 15-20 minutes to download some of them. If you like old maps as much as I do, you will love this site, too!

I WILL LOOK AT THE PICS, TY............MAYBE THAT RACE TRACK IS THE OLD MEYER SPEEDWAY.........FOR DIRT TRACKERS

[driveinfan]

Does anyone remember or have any information on the Cedars drive in located in Baytown or the Parkway drive in located in Houston?

[NenaE]

On 1/18/2009 at 4:04 PM, FilioScotia said:

I now have a firm fix on where the old Eagle Drive-in was in Pasadena. In the 1957 view of Pasadena on Historicaerials dot com, I found the Eagle on Red Bluff Road. In that old photo, it was on Red Bluff about halfway between Southmore and Spencer Highway. You will note a near total absence of residences and other streets. It was out in the country then.

I couldn't believe my eyes, but in the most recent photo of that same spot -- 2004 -- you can still see the unmistakeable outline and topography of a drive-in theater behind a building that's now almost at the intersection of Red Bluff and the East Sam Houston Tollway.

When I and my buddies went to the Eagle in the late 50s, Red Bluff was a badly pot-holed two lane asphalt road. Lordy how that has changed.

 

That's a tricky one to pinpoint. It's often confused with the Town & Country Drive-In, located at 4716 Red Bluff. If you use the approximate address of 3903 Red Bluff, it will get you in the general area of the Eagle. Its concession stand concrete foundation is behind and to the right of Amegy Bank. I verified this info. with my brother-in-law. He grew up in the area. The 1950's Eagle Drive-In had a large neon green eagle on the screen backside. The "I Grew Up in Pasadena, Tx" facebook group has quite a bit of info. on all of the Pasadena area theaters.  FilioScotia is right, those aerial maps are amazingly detailed. Sometimes, you have to use both HistoricAerials and GoogleEarth to see the progression, through the years.   Cinema Houston book mentions Town & Country, but not The Eagle Drive In.

[NenaE]

On 5/21/2018 at 8:27 AM, driveinfan said:

Does anyone remember or have any information on the Cedars drive in located in Baytown or the Parkway drive in located in Houston?

 

Cinema Houston mentions the Parkway Drive-In at 7300 South Lake Houston Parkway (North Houston) "operated through the late seventies". p.223

I couldn't find anything on the Cedars. 

 

 

[NenaE]

On 7/15/2009 at 11:19 AM, djrage said:

I've been frequenting Historicaerials.com lately. Pretty addicted. Its facinating to see how certain areas have changed so much and being able to see what used to be in certain places. It allows you to compare from the 1950s up to about 2004. ANYWAY. I was looking over Pasadena and found what looked like it could have been a portion of a drive in on Red Bluff just east of the Beltway about midway before Red Bluff intersects with Pasadena Blvd. Well I took it all the way back to 1957 and found there was a drive in. Anyone know what drive in that was?

 

That name was The Eagle Drive-In. I mentioned it in a recent post about drive-ins. I don't think it lasted very long, 1950's to early sixties. Hurricane Carla may be to blame.

[Lke]

I am trying to locate a drive in that would have been in existence in 1952. My husband was in an orphanage at that time and remembers looking out the window and watching movies. He said he couldn’t hear the movies but could see them. Basically we are trying to find out the name of the orphanage. Does anyone have any idea what drive in that was and possibly the orphange’s name. 

[mkultra25]

5 hours ago, Lke said:

I am trying to locate a drive in that would have been in existence in 1952. My husband was in an orphanage at that time and remembers looking out the window and watching movies. He said he couldn’t hear the movies but could see them. Basically we are trying to find out the name of the orphanage. Does anyone have any idea what drive in that was and possibly the orphange’s name. 

 

Any clues as to what part of town the orphanage was in? There were a lot of drive-ins in Houston. There are a couple of sites that have some info on them:

 

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/united-states/texas/houston?status=closed

 

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/united-states/texas/houston?status=demolished

 

https://www.cinemahouston.info/driveins.shtml