Posted 20 August 2010 - 01:52 AM
<!--quoteo(post=46863:date=May 31 2008, 11:10 AM:name=801hme)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (801hme @ May 31 2008, 11:10 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=46863"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I've seen and participated in some topics here about Ft. Worth Drive-in Theatres. This has been a subject of interest for me for several years, and I've done some research on the subject in hopes of building a website or some-such. What memories/information do you have about these Drive-Ins? At my age, I was fortunate to experience the last "mainstream" years of drive-ins (in my case the Twin and the Meadowbrook), and in the last few years my family has become semi-regulars at the Brazos in Granbury. What a geat experience. It's like a step back in time. Kids play ball, throw frisbees, footballs, and just hang out on the lawn in front of the screen tower before the feature starts, it's always very clean and family oriented, you can bring your own food or eat from the snack-bar (which is another time warp in itself), and its a very affordable way to take a family to see a movie. Okay, now that I've plugged the Brazos (no, I don't have an affiliation other than being a fan), what do you remember about these drive-ins?
Fort Worth Twin-Riverside and East Lancaster-gas wells now
Meadowbrook Drive-in-Riverside and East Lancaster-holding area for Waste Mangement
Riverside Drive-in-Just East of North Beach on Belknap, now a driving range
Belknap-5709 East Belknap, now the site of the Desert Sands Apartment complex.
South Side Drive-in-4800 block of I-35, now the site of a Carnival Food store.
Southside Twin-Just south of I-20 on Old Hemphill Rd.-now Treasure Island Flea Market
Bowie Blvd Drive-in-7100 Camp Bowie, now a car dealarship. I believe this to be Ft. Worth's first drive-in theatre.
The Corral/Jacksboro Drive-in-199, just west of 820, now an Albertsons, some of the ramps are still visible in back.
The Pike Drive-in-7500 East Lancaster-some ramps still clearly visible.
Parkaire Drive-in-on University just south of I-30, where the shopping center with the Blue Mesa Grill is now (remember the go-cart track next door?)
Downtown Drive-in-On Henderson just north of the intersection of White Settlement Rd.-is a flea market now.
Cowtown Drive-in-on 199-now an Auto Salvage/Auction house I think?
Westerner-on River Oaks Blvd-Now a 7-11 and apartment complex.
Cherry Lane-on (really?) Cherry Lane just north of 30-Now a Wal-mart (wouldn't it be great to tear down a Wal-mart to build a Drive-In?)
Mansfield Highway-future home of a church according to sine-age
Lariat Drive-in-On East Rosedale nesr 820- This is an interesting story I'd like to know more about. I've seen old business listings for this drive-in refer to it as a "colored" drive-in, and in Don & Susan Sanders book "The American Drive-In Theatre", it is refered to as being "built near a new sub-division for the African-American community". However, people I know that grew up right down the road from there in the 40's and 50's have no memory of it. I don't think it lasted very long.
Not Fort Worth, but nearby:
Mid-Cities Drive-in-In Euless on Highway 10
Arlington Drive-in-On division just east of Bowen
Eagle Drive-In-Azle drive-in
Did I overlook one? What are your memories of these Drive-in's?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Love this topic! I'm pushing 50 and remember (and went to) a number of these drive-ins. Being from Alvarado and not being of the age to drive, I had to rely mostly on my sister and her husband and/or boyfriend to take me along. Some of the memories:
Fort Worth Twin: This is where I saw "The Exorcist." I'd waited a whole year to see this because the walk-ins would not allow kids 12 or under in, even if they were accompanied by a guardian. This was truly unheard of for a mainstream movie but such was the sensation surrounding "The Exorcist." I went in on my 13th birthday to the Twin and watched the movie and, probably because of my age, was underwhelmed, having heard the hype for a full year. Funnily enough, years later, as a young man, I watched it in edited form on television and was truly unnerved by it because by then, I understood the implications of the story. Go figure. Saw "True Grit"/"The Undefeated" double-feature, then "True Grit"/"Paint Your Wagon" double-feature. Loved John Wayne! Also saw "Ben" and fell in love with rats for a short time. What can I say? I was a kid.
Southside Twin: This drive-in was probably the one I visited the most, being the closest in Fort Worth from Alvarado. This one felt like home. Watched many a double-feature here. I remember seeing "Evel Knievel" with George Hamilton and "The Born Losers" with Tom Laughlin on the same bill. Years later, my brother-in-law's family owned a diner and we brought a whole box full of greasy cheeseburgers and fries with us (sorry concession stand!) and watched "Billy Jack," which was a great memory. Saw "American Graffiti" and "Close Encounter of the Third Kind." Lots of times we took a pickup truck and backed it up on the hump by the speaker and sat in the bed watching the movie. Good times.
The Cherry Lane: I think I only went there once and that was to see "Star Wars" for the umpteenth time. I liked the drive-in well enough but I can't remember a whole lot about it.
Mansfield Drive-In: Went there many times, but can 't remember what exactly I saw. It was an okay drive-in as I recall. But the two "Twin" drive-ins where the ones that meant the most to me.
Does anyone remember The Westside Drive-In? It seemed so far out of the way to a kid like me, and at the time, there was practically nothing out there by it, except for some sort of small cement plant or something of that sort, that stood in a field not far from it. I loved this drive-in. They had dusk-till-dawn movies and 99-Cents-A-Carload nights. Saw horror movies starring Boris Karloff in his later, not-so-great years ("Curse of the Crimson Cult"), one with Frankie Avalon! ("Horror House"), alongside better movies like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." I tried for years to get anyone to even remember this drive-in, with only blank stares as replies, until I learned from another drive-in enthusiast that it stood somewhere near the intersection of 1-30 and 1-20, near old Hwy. 80. Anyone know what suburb of Fort Worth is nearest this spot?
I remember most of the others you mentioned, but never went there. Rode by several of them, though. Growing up in Alvarado, we had the Chisholm Trail Drive-In that I saw a lot of great movies at when I was young. Being a small town, we got a lot of newer movies later in the year. The projectionist wasn't the greatest either, as he put the first reel of "The Swiss Family Robinson" in upside down! Neighboring Cleburne had a drive-in, The Chief, that I went to a few times before it closed down.
I would love to see pics of any of those Fort Worth drive-ins, even the ones I never patronized, if anyone has access to them. Long live the drive-in!