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Welcome to Michigandriveins.com, the Premier Site for Michigan's Drive-In History! |
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Evolution..... This site was created to catalog, track, and preserve the history of all Michigan Drive-In Theater's, past and present. It is also a way
for fellow Michiganders to remember their many long-gone drive-in theaters, and also to promote the survivors. First launched in December 1998, using a free
Geocities site, put together on a pre-historic WebTV,
One of the big inspiration's for this project was a local public-access cable tv show I stumbled across channel surfing late one night.
I curiously watched various images of abandoned Michigan drive-in theater ruins, including all three Saginaw drive-in's. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
What I had found was a program called "Outdoor Moovies", produced by Darryl Burgess. Darryl was the pioneer in exploring closed drive-in's, capturing
Another huge inspiration was a 70-mile trip in the summer of 1997 to the fabulous Capri Drive-In in
Coldwater with my kids, the first of many. My local classic-rock radio station had been giving the Capri
frequent mention, providing me the urge to go
Info was hard to come by, it seems drive-in's were the black sheep of the movie theater industry. The Internet provided a good starting point.
Not much was found specifically geared to Michigan drive-in's. I did find Evil Sam's Drive-In
Theater Guide, Tim Thompson's Driveintheater.com, and Wesley Horton's excellent
American Institute of Drive-In Archeology website. These three great sites,
especially Wesley's, provided much inspiration.
Richard Hollingshead would open the world's first drive-in theater in Camden, New Jersey on June 6, 1933. Five years later, Michigan's
drive-in history would begin with the opening of the Eastside Drive-In on Harper Ave in Detroit, on May 26th, 1938. Many more would follow in the Great Lake
State. Drive-In construction slowed considerably during World War II. Things really took off after the war however, as drive-in's began popping up all over the
state in the late forties, and early fifties. Drive-ins were very popular, and flourished through the fifties, and sixties. A slow decline began however, in
the seventies, probably triggered by the introduction of television to the masses. The late seventies, and eighties were not good times for the drive-in's.
One by one, Michigan's drive-in's began to close, quietly, and unnoticed by most. Many sat vacant for years, left to die a slow death. There were 126 open
Michigan drive-in's in 1977, by 1988 it was down to 62. Two years later, in 1990 just 29 remained, and only 10 of those made it to 1998. We can all thank
VCR's, home video rental, Walmart, strip malls, rising property values, daylight savings time,
This site needs your help! There are many holes to fill in, and many drive-in's we have no images of. If you can provide any information or photos, please
A big thank you all that have helped make this happen.
Inspirations & Contributors: Darryl Burgess and Outdoor Moovies, Gary Ritzenthaler
and Waterwinterwonderland.com,
Tom & Sue Magocs and Capri Drive-In,
Evil Sam Graham and the Evil Sam's Drive-In Guide,
Tim Thompson and Driveintheater.com,
Wesley Horton and the American Institute of Drive-In Archeology,
Scott Biggs, Whit Whitworth, Fredrick Ryan, Andrew Wilson, Eric Scott, Terry Kovarik, Dave Rouleau, Jeff Raterink, Kurt Ahlgrim, Bobby Peacock, Denise Frank, Larry
Lewis Jr, |
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 Click here to purchase a collectible 2008 Michigandriveins.com Calendar!
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Jim Rees, Ben Thompson, Doug Long, Steven Wojtowicz, Scott Heckel, Joe Pellerito, Mark Brendel, Chris Arble, Tom Elmore, John Percey,
Christopher Allen, Les Hale, Lou Warrington, Darren Snow, & Barney Kahn......And thanks to the Capri, Miracle Twin,
US-23, Ford-Wyoming, Cherry Bowl, Getty 4, Hi-Way, Sunset, and 5-Mile Drive-In's for hanging in there all these years!!
See ya at the drive-in, Ron......September, 2003