BACKROADS • JUNE 2021
Page 16
Frontline Eurosports presents
BIG CITY GETAWAY
daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind
Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre 4540 Shankweiler Road, Orefield, PA 18069 610-481-0800 • www.shankweilers.com
The Oldest Drive in the USA! A few years back we did a story on the Fairlee Drive-In and Motel up in Fairlee, Vermont along the river bordering New Hampshire. It is a bit rare to see motorcycles frequenting drive-ins, but the Fairlee had not only a giant screen and the huge field for the cars, but a row of small motel rooms as well. We brought in dinner for the show. The Fairlee came up in a discussion one morning over coffee and it reminded me that those who took our route down to Winchester, Virginia, and the Fall Fiesta several years ago had passed by a real piece of Americana – the oldest drive-in in continuous operation in the United States - Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre. Just to give you a brief background on the history of the drive-in you will have to look at its very first beginnings. The first cinema of this type was opened on June 11, 1914, with the advent of the Airdome Theater in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This was more an outdoor theater for folks to stand and watch a film, but it did have room for parking 10 cars too.
The first open-aired theatre that was opened for automobile use was in Camden, New Jersey; Hollingshead’s Drive-In opened on June 6, 1933. One year later, on April 15, 1934, saw the opening of Shankweiler’s Auto Park in Orefield, Pennsylvania – the second in the nation. Hundreds of others followed and the drive-ins peak popularity came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly in rural areas, with some 4,000 drive-ins spread across the United States.
One of the largest drive-in theaters was Johnny AllWeather Drive-In on Long Island’s Sunrise Highway in Copiague, New York that was 29 acres in size and could handle 2,500 cars. It ran from 1957 till 1984. The site remained untouched for years until it was demolished; making room for another ‘much needed’ shopping plaza with Home Depot and Target. A Red Lobster now sits where the giant outdoor screen used to stand. Time marches on and a few things began to pile up and add to the decline of the drive-ins around the United States. Home entertainment systems, the fuel crisis of the 70s, and the back and forth about Daylight Saving Time (which made the shows start an hour later) in the ‘70s. Another thing that ended a few drive-ins was radical weather. On July 16, 1980, in Taylor, Michigan, a freak derecho storm with straight-line winds of 150 miles per hour swept the drive-in away leaving only the
