Henderson history: Henderson treasured drive-ins for 56 years
People of a certain age have fond memories of drive-in theaters, which could include family outings, first dates, or hiding in the trunk to sneak in.
Henderson’s first drive-in formally opened July 16, 1949, although it had a soft opening in April of that year.
It was later known as the Dixie Drive-In but it had no name when it first opened in April. A tiny advertisement in The Gleaner of April 24 referred to it only as “Outdoor Movie” showing “The Sheriff of Sage Valley” starring Buster Crabbe. The previous day’s edition of an Evansville newspaper advertised “Rolling Plains” starring Tex Ritter.
“They didn’t have individual speakers for each car,” Morris Mullins recalled in Chuck Stinnett’s Gleaner column of Oct. 16, 2005. “They just had two big speakers up front. You had to roll your windows down to hear the movie.”Carl Thomason said the speakers resembled big megaphones “and you had to bring your own popcorn and soft drinks.”
A 1954 county map depicts it on the east side of U.S. 60-West between the intersection of Old Corydon Road and the railroad crossing.
Admission was 50 cents per carload – with a free pass to the driver who could cram in the most people.That changed when the drive-in formally opened, which was announced in The Gleaner of July 15. Improvements had been made and the price had increased.
“The theater now is using regular drive-in theater equipment,” co-owner Walter Miller said, and could accommodate 100 vehicles. Admission was 75 cents a carload.
Miller’s partners in the enterprise were real estate agents Woodring Fryer and Howard Brown, according to a profile of Fryer in The Gleaner of March 17, 1963.
The Dixie didn’t last long. Advertisements ran in The Gleaner only in July and August 1949 and the website Cinematreasures.org says the last ad ran in Evansville papers Oct. 2.
Miller ran a Gleaner classified advertisement Nov. 1 offering five or six acres of land next to the drive-in. “If interested, bring some money.” On Nov. 13 he ran another classified that offered 13 acres with a six-room house and 226 feet of highway frontage. The only deed I could find resulting from those efforts was for a lot at the corner of Old Corydon Road.
Competition probably contributed to its closing; two more drive-ins opened here before the end of 1949.The Hi-Y – located on six acres at the end of Hi-Y Drive off North Elm Street – opened Aug. 24, according to a story and bevy of ads in that day’s edition of The Gleaner. It was run by Bernard D. Bright, K.E. Benson and J.A. LaPlante.
It had a capacity of 350 vehicles. Entrances were on both U.S. 41 and Elm Street, but the only exit was Elm “for greater safety of the patrons.”
The opening show was a Warner Bros. musical called, “The Time, the Place and the Girl.”
Bright opened an Owensboro restaurant Dec. 2, 1959, and he was murdered there Dec. 17 in what apparently was a hold-up gone horribly wrong, according to The Gleaner of Dec. 19. He also had a Henderson restaurant in which he originally was partners with Mosco H. Miller. (More about Mosco Miller in a moment.)
At that point, Malco Theaters took over management of the facility.
The Hi-Y’s last season was 1963 and The Gleaner of April 11 said the classic Japanese horror movie “Mothra” was to be shown that night. According to The Gleaner of Oct. 27 the last movies shown there were Joanne Woodward in “The Stripper” and Jerry Lewis in “The Nutty Professor.”
The lease on the property expired in February 1964 and it was not renewed, according to The Gleaner of March 19, 1964, which said “the area is being cleared. Some of the playground equipment was given to the Riverview School on Water Street.”
The Audubon Drive-In Theater also had a playground – but it had something more. according to The Gleaner of Oct. 30, 1949. “Probably the most exciting feature of the playground for children is the toy train near the screen. Rides on it are free.” The concession stand also provided bottle warmers for families with babies.
The Audubon opened Nov. 2, 1949, showing “Streets of Laredo,” starring William Holden. Ads from the time say it was just south of Audubon State Park, but Stinnett reported a more exact location is about where Henderson Chevrolet is located.
The deed when the business was liquidated says it occupied 10.1 acres. Malco Theaters owned 50 percent and operated it. Leon Pickle, who operated theaters here for decades, apparently contributed part of the property and owned one-sixth interest. Ten other people owned 1/30th interests.
W.G. Schoepflin’s column in The Gleaner of April 12, 1959, noted the Audubon was for sale or lease. “We doubt that anyone would consider the further operation of a theatre at this time.”
The Gleaner of July 31 reported a heavy storm did considerable damage. “A large section was torn out of the screen and a 10-foot section on the left side was blown back.”
The Audubon’s last ad I could find in The Gleaner is for “Houseboat” starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. It appeared Aug. 9, 1959. That was its last season. The company was liquidated at the end of 1961. Equipment from the Audubon was moved to the Hi-Y.
One of this area’s more obscure drive-ins was the Sky-Top theater, which was on U.S. 41 just over the line into Webster County. The earliest ad I found in The Gleaner, dated May 21, 1954, is for “The Half Breed,” starring Robert Young” and “Week End with Father,” starring Van Heflin.
The last ad I found was dated May 20, 1955. It was for “Quiver Queens of Burlesk,” which featured the “newest striptease sensation.”
The Sky-Top had another sensation that week. Webster County Sheriff Merle Nance attempted to serve a delinquent tax levy on the owners May 19 – which prompted the flourishing of a gun, according to The Gleaner of July 23.
That story reported the indictments of Mr. and Mrs. Orien B. Smith and their son, Gary, who were charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The sheriff said she brandished a gun at him and the other two threatened bodily harm.
That story also made clear they no longer operated the Sky-Top.
The Sky-Top’s first ad in The Gleaner on May 21, 1954, I suspect, was prompted at least in part by the opening that day of Henderson’s biggest and longest surviving drive-in theater. I’m speaking, of course, about the Starlite Drive-In on U.S. 60-East at what is now Starlite Drive.
Mosco and Mary Miller and 18-year-old son, Gene, opened it initially, but Gene operated it at the end. Stinnett noted it opened just when broadcast television was coming on strong locally, according to The Gleaner of Sept. 7, 2005; it survived not only that, but also cable TV, multiplex cinemas, VCRs, stadium-style cinemas and the Internet.
“The Glenn Miller Story” with James Stewart and June Allyson was the first movie shown there. The second feature was “Take Me to Town” with Ann Sheridan. Admission for adults was 45 cents but kids under 12 were free.
The last movies shown were “The Cave,” “The Brothers Grimm,” “Four Brothers,” and “Transporter II,” according to an ad in The Gleaner on its closing night.
The Sept. 7, 2005, article quoted Gene Miller as saying its capacity was 350 to 400, depending on how cars were parked.
The only advance publicity I could find about the Starlite was a photo in the May 9 Gleaner about the 70-by-72-foot screen being erected. In fact, except for at the end of its life, the Starlite didn’t get nearly as much press as other local drive-ins.
The main exception was in The Gleaner of Aug. 5, 1961, which said a “fast-moving storm” had toppled the screen onto the playground equipment, causing an estimated $30,000 damage.
The Gleaner of Aug. 20 reported a steel replacement measuring 40 by 92 feet – which could withstand winds of up to 125 mph ? would be ready when the theater reopened Aug. 23. (A second screen was added in the 1980s, Stinnett reported.)
Multiple stories, photos and letters to the editor accompanied the closing of the Starlite on Sept. 10, 2005. Nostalgia for it was so strong that the Dec. 10 Gleaner advertised the sale of souvenir speakers.
At the end of November, the Henderson City Commission voted to spend $1.25 million to acquire the 8.5 acres for use as a new fire station.
100 YEARS AGO
The community of Smith Mills was having a big barbecue to raise money to build a consolidated high school and celebrate its history, according to The Gleaner editions of July 19 and 20, 1924. “Thirty carcasses” were cooked in pits for the event.
The high school was erected in 1925 on a lot donated by Dr. J.W. Cooper but burned in 1946.
50 YEARS AGO
The board of directors of the Henderson County United Fund voted to rename the organization the United Way of Henderson County, according to The Gleaner of July 18, 1974.
“At the present time in excess of 500 local communities are using the name United Way,” according to board president Harold Sasse.
The United Fund had replaced the Community Chest in 1955 and brought nearly all agencies under one umbrella for fund-raising purposes.
25 YEARS AGO
Bobbie Jarrett was replacing Jackie Cole as executive director of the Housing Authority of Henderson, according to The Gleaner of July 15, 1999.
Cole had held the position for 22 years and was retiring Aug. 1. Jarrett joined the agency in 1978 and was finance director by 1999. She continues to hold the position of executive director.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Henderson history: Henderson treasured drive-ins for 56 years
