Midway Auto Drive-in Theater

As long as I've wandered out of the confines of Lorain County with my photos of long-gone drive-ins, I might as well keep going. This photo is of the Midway Auto Drive-in, which was located on US 42 about, uh, midway between Ashland and Mansfield in Richland County. I shot it during the summer of 1987.

There's not much information about this drive-in online. The official address was 3124 Ashland Road in Mansfield.

I was driving by it fairly regularly for a few years in the late 1980's as I was driving up and down US 42 a lot. Each time it looked a little worse until finally there was some kind of "gentlemen's club" located in what was probably the refreshment stand.

Here's a link to the Cinema Treasures website, which has a little information about the drive-in’s history, including its opening on September 18, 1947.

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UPDATE (June 1, 2021)

Here’s a Google Maps view dated Sept. 2019 of the property, as seen from U. S. 42.

And here’s a Google Maps 2021 Aerial View. That’s Bowen Road running alongside the property.