Sandusky Drive-in Theater Revisited

Sept. 16, 1948 ad from Sandusky Register

Aerial view of Sandusky Drive-in Theater
(Courtesy Sandusky Library)

One of my favorite Sunday drives (when I’m not under lock-down, that is) is following U. S. 6 from Vermilion to Sandusky. There’s still enough old motels and cottage camps on the highway to make it an interesting ride. But a lot of roadside landmarks have disappeared in the last twenty years.

But I’m a creature of habit, and even though something may have been torn down – like the Sandusky Drive-in Theater – I can’t resist taking a look at where it used to be. It was located on the eastern outskirts of the city. It first opened in May of 1948, according to the Sandusky Library’s Sandusky History blog. (A newspaper ad from later in the year is shown above.)

I first photographed the Sandusky Drive-in Theater back in 1991, when it was still in operation. Here’s the photo (below). It was a rather unappealing sky that day.

Later, I went back and shot the theater again after it closed in 2001. This photo (below) with a menacing sky is from June 2007.

And here are my shots from this week (below). Today the former drive-in property is part of the East Sandusky Bay Extension 200 Acre Preserve. You can still see the little road that wound around in front of the theater, and where it comes out onto Cleveland Road West (U. S. 6).

(I first wrote about the Sandusky Drive-in back here in 2010).

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There are a lot of great photos of the Sandusky Drive-in Theater (including one of mine), as well as some newspaper ads & clippings, over on the Cinema Treasures website. Check it out!

Art from a 1952 newspaper ad

Sandusky Drive-in

Staying with my drive-in theme for a while, here's another photo of a late, great drive-in (although technically it's not in Lorain County, as the name of this blog would have you believe.) The photo is of the Sandusky Drive-in, which was on US Route 6 along the eastern approach to the city. I took the photo back in June 2007.

By that time, the drive-in had closed and I believe it was for sale (I managed to compose my shot without the unsightly 'For Sale' sign.)

Back in the summer of 1991, I had also snapped a shot of it (at left). The theater was still open then, as the marquee was promoting The Perfect Weapon as well as The Flight of the Intruder. The screen tower was in slightly better shape than it was sixteen years later. (Click on either photo for a closer look.)


Looking at these photos, I wonder: Why I was out shooting on such crummy days? Somehow, though, the dismal weather in each of the photos seem appropriate, kind of a visual metaphor for the state of the drive-in industry.

Anyway, I have no memory of ever seeing a movie at this theater. It was just something that my family drove by on the way home from Cedar Point, along with the Lorain Drive-in, which was further east and along the final stretch before getting home.

Here are a few links with a little information. The Agilty Nut, always a great source of information and photographs when it comes to classic roadside Americana, can be found at this link.

A little more information can be found here, and some great photos shot by someone on a sunny day can be found here.