Historic Houston Drive-In Theaters

[Vertigo58]

I don't know if that was a Sinclair refinery or not but the drive in was on the south side of 225 at Red Bluff Road across from a refinery.

Dont recall if a Sinclair as there were so many refineries around, sadly what does stand out was the KKK headquarters hall nearby. We used to trip out seeing it as you passed by. Big sign proudly displayed on top. New topic for sure.

[northbeaumont]

I grew up very near the Decker drive-in in Baytown. Originally, it had one screen that faced away from Decker Drive (now Spur 330). Sometime about 1974-76, they added the second screen. I clearly recall becoming bored with Island of Doctor Moreau and turning around to watch Corvette Summer. I also recall seeing Bonnie And Clyde at the Decker.

Last spring, on our way home from Canyon, Texas we drove through Quitaque (kitta-kaye), Texas and were stunned to see an honest-to-goodness functioning drive-in movie theater out off the highway. God bless West Texas!

I also recall the infamous Red Bluff Drive-in and its XXX fare. Just across the highway was the Capitan which I distinctly recall advertising Deep Throat by spray painting the title on a bed sheet and hanging it over the marquee. Just tacky, as my mom would say.The Decker actually showed X-rated films once or twice as well as European "art" flicks that were sure to flash flesh a time or two.

I tried to upload photos of the Red Bluff, Airline, Epsom, McClendon, Post Oak and Hempsted but I kept getting a message which said that they were too large. So I uploaded them on their individual entries on Drive-Ins.com. When you look at Post Oak, you'll see Dinky the Duck. You also see the charred remains of the Hempsted.

Dont recall if a Sinclair as there were so many refineries around, sadly what does stand out was the KKK headquarters hall nearby. We used to trip out seeing it as you passed by. Big sign proudly displayed on top. New topic for sure.

The KKK are nothing but a bunch of sheetheads.

[northbeaumont]

Yeah, that's the one. They still love America out in West Texas. I miss the old Brazos Drive-in Theater just outside of Seymour, Texas.

The Brazos Drive-in opened back in 1952. It's hard to believe that it's been operating for over 50 years.

[sevfiv]

I'm reviving a small project I started a couple years ago - it involves visiting the old sites of drive-in theaters (a smaller part of a larger building footprint-related project).

There are some threads that list names and addresses here and there, but I was hoping to aggregate them here.

For the ones that are still on vacant land it's kind of like the Addicks mystery markings where on the ground there sometimes isn't much to see, but I am also interested in visiting developed areas just for a now-and-then picture.

I have also been using the historicaerials.com site to get older aerials which has been interesting.

The ones I originally visited were:

-Telephone Twin (Telephone Rd. near the south beltway)

-Epsom Downs (near Jensen and Tidwell)

-Town and Country (4716 Red Bluff, Pasadena)

-Red Bluff (Pasadena)

The next one to go to is the King Center at 610 and MLK.

Can anyone recommend any others? And does anyone know the address of the Red Bluff Drive-in? I think I went there (?) but I'm getting things confused with the Town and Country...

[NenaE]

I recommend...

The Gulfway, opened in yr. 1960, off S. Shaver, near Gulf Frwy, at 9025 Wald Rd. Was right before Old Galveston Rd.

The Pasadena Drive-In, opened in 1949, at 2221 S. Shaver. (I especially remember this one, it was across from a Hancocks fabric store my mom used to visit, also close to a small amusement park with a fun house, kiddie ferris wheel, other rides). I remember the three colored blocks in it's logo, think they were red, yellow, and blue. The land later became a trailer park. Also remember an older trailer park right by it in the late 60's, early 70's.

The names, addresses, and yrs. above are from the book Cinema Houston.

P.S. Just checked it out, the amusement park may be located just north of the trailer park, was a narrow but deep slightly wooded lot, fun house was to the left, ferris wheel to the right. Land has small circles, too.

[misplaced txgirl]

Thunderbird Drive-in...just off Hempstead Hwy...at the intersection of Clay and Hollister

[sevfiv]

Thanks for the ideas/addresses so far.

It looks like the Gulfway is now a small subdivision, and the Pasadena is a trailer park.

Others I have recently looked up are mostly developed:

-Tidwell (subdivision)

-Post Oak (Awty school?)

-McLendon triple (RV park/lake)

-Irvington (warehouse)

-Winkler (Home Depot)

[57Tbird]

Here is one for the South Main Drive-In from an old post of yours, sevfiv. If you try to locate on the Houston Aerials or Google websites, use "Main" instead of "South Main" in the address. Using South Main puts you too far north, for some reason.

[sevfiv]

I was getting confused about the Post Oak drive-in, but now I know why (thanks to Cinema Houston via Google books)..

The Post Oak I was at 2900 (S.) Post Oak (Hidalgo) and Post Oak II was at 1255 N. Post Oak (Awty school area).

And 57Tbird - thanks for the heads up...I completely forgot about posting those!

[FilioScotia]

I was getting confused about the Post Oak drive-in, but now I know why (thanks to Cinema Houston via Google books)..

The Post Oak I was at 2900 (S.) Post Oak (Hidalgo) and Post Oak II was at 1255 N. Post Oak (Awty school area). And 57Tbird - thanks for the heads up...I completely forgot about posting those!

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.

[readam]

The Sharpstown Drive Inn was at the Nothwest corner of Bellaire and Hillcroft. Now a shopping center. Originally across from Globe on the Northeast corner of Bellaire and Hillcroft. Remembering, as did sevfiv, that the original Post Oak Drive Inn was just north and next to the Channel 2 studio on Post Oak.

[Retama]

The old Decker Drive In was located at Decker Dr. (now Spur 330) and Market Street loop in Baytown. Check this aerial shot and you can still make out the old parking lot: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Bayway+Drive+at+spur+330+Baytown,+Texas&ie=UTF8&ll=29.784893,-95.034142&spn=0.005233,0.00824&t=h&z=17

It closed about 1980 or so. Someone turned it into a used trailer lot but it is being cleaned up right now. Likely will be redevloped as an apartment complex before long.

[plumber2]

Check out the Bayou Drive-In in La Marque on the Gulf Freeway between FM 1765 and Delaney Rd. It was located on the east side of the feeder, and is still visible from the freeway and of course google earth.

[NenaE]

Check out the Bayou Drive-In in La Marque on the Gulf Freeway between FM 1765 and Delaney Rd. It was located on the east side of the feeder, and is still visible from the freeway and of course google earth.

I highly recommend looking at the drive-ins in the historic aerials site, as well. The comparison feature is awesome, and user friendly. With all the years to select from, you can see when development started, or changed, in many of them.

[cosmic08]

The I-45 North drive-in was at the intersection of 45 North and West Rd. There is now a Fry's and mixed retail on that site...can't even tell there was a drive-in there before.

[sevfiv]

The Epsom was interesting to visit (well, moreso than others).

This is from 2005:

[marmer]

Sev, get thee to your fav bookshop (would that be sevfav?) and buy yourself a copy of _Cinema Houston_. Call it an inauguration present or something. You'll be glad you did.

[FilioScotia]

The Epsom was interesting to visit (well, moreso than others).

Hey Sev check this out. You'll appreciate this item I found in another section of the HAIF. http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Buildi...Epsom_Downs.php

[NenaE]

Sev, get thee to your fav bookshop (would that be sevfav?) and buy yourself a copy of _Cinema Houston_. Call it an inauguration present or something. You'll be glad you did.

I second that...that book is worth it's weight in gold. The drive-in on the 610 loop SE (@ Mykawa) looked like the one in Sevfiv's picture for many years. Grass growing over the shell parking lots that originally had little hills and valleys. Cars angled up a bit. Those speakers would hang on the car window, never would quite hang right. Haha..what a time.

[sevfiv]

Hey Sev check this out. You'll appreciate this item I found in another section of the HAIF. http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Buildi...Epsom_Downs.php

Interesting. That's when Jensen was Humble Rd. - or Clark St. On current maps, the southern end of Jensen aligns with Clark around the 10/59 interchange, but there's not much left of Clark.

On this map, it was also labeled State Highway 35.

This one shows Clark turning in to Jensen, which was also 59.

[sevfiv]

And the book - yes, I know I need to just get it already

[carol802]

I remember how graphically designed the front of the Thunderbird drive-in was.

I remember the giant yellow rubber ducky on one but can't recall which one it was. Post Oak?

Had completely forgotten the Hi Neighbor!

[FilioScotia]

The Hi-Nabor - 7200 Mykawa Road, opened May 22, 1953, also had a Kiddie Play Park, theater closed in 1967.

That was a litle early for a drive-in to close, does anyone know why? Talks about mosquitoes being a big issue. ---from Cinema Houston book

For the longest time I thought the Hi-Nabor was the one on Old Katy Road at Witte Rd in Spring Branch. Obviously wrong. Does anybody remember the name of that drive-in? It disappeared long ago under all the building that's been done along Old Katy.

[NenaE]

For the longest time I thought the Hi-Nabor was the one on Old Katy Road at Witte Rd in Spring Branch. Obviously wrong. Does anybody remember the name of that drive-in? It disappeared long ago under all the building that's been done along Old Katy.

The Post Oak II - was actually located on N. Post Oak Rd. ( where Old Katy Rd. ends & crosses it.) It was in between Clarkson Ln. & Awty School Ln. (close to 610 Loop), opened in 1960. It's seen in the 1964 historic aerials map, 1973, as well, but looks a little overgrown or not kept up, by the 1981 map, it's lost to development. Once again, thnx to Cinema Houston book.

Could that be the one you remember? The map doesn't show one around Witte...maybe a smaller independent one was there at one time.

[FilioScotia]

The Post Oak II - was actually located on N. Post Oak Rd. ( where Old Katy Rd. ends & crosses it.) It was in between Clarkson Ln. & Awty School Ln. (close to 610 Loop), opened in 1960. It's seen in the 1964 historic aerials map, 1973, as well, but looks a little overgrown or not kept up, by the 1981 map, it's lost to development. Once again, thnx to Cinema Houston book. Could that be the one you remember? The map doesn't show one around Witte...maybe a smaller independent one was there at one time.

I stand corrected. I now know that there was no drive-in at Witte Rd and Old Katy. I don't know why I thought there was.

I think it may have been because --20 or 25 years ago -- before developers completely covered up that corner -- I remember seeing some curving hilly features that resembled a drive-in's speaker rows. I guess I assumed that a drive-in used to be there. Wrong.

I've gone to the historic aerials site and a 1957 view of that area shows no sign of a drive-in theater.

[marmer]

Here's a cool map from Cinema Houston:

Edit: better scan substituted.

[sevfiv]

^Thanks for posting - I need to order that book soon.

Google has a decent preview, too:

http://books.google.com/books?id=R6XDCyvuG...uston#PPA227,M1

[FIREhat]

My dad moved to Houston in 1951 and at one point lived off Law just north of West U. I was told there was a drive-in there by my mom (who married him much later, but I have never heard of that from anyone else.

[plumber2]

I stand corrected. I now know that there was no drive-in at Witte Rd and Old Katy. I don't know why I thought there was.

I think it may have been because --20 or 25 years ago -- before developers completely covered up that corner -- I remember seeing some curving hilly features that resembled a drive-in's speaker rows. I guess I assumed that a drive-in used to be there. Wrong.

I've gone to the historic aerials site and a 1957 view of that area shows no sign of a drive-in theater.

Maybe because the site was a driving range during that time. A friend of mine operated it for awhile.

[57Tbird]

Here's a cool map from Cinema Houston:

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.