Big Sky Drive-In
Duarte, California1949-1984
Shop Big Sky Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. It held about 850 cars on Huntington Drive, and the sign was a tall slanted slab of ribbed metal with Big Sky in giant script. A 1984 newspaper called the orange and yellow screen a landmark. Pick a style below, then read the full Big Sky history further down. Down Home Apparel is an American small business remembering the best places and teams of yesteryear, and every shirt is printed to order in the USA.
4 products
Big Sky Drive-In History
The Big Sky Drive-In in Duarte, California, opened on October 20, 1949, with Rope of Sand and Roughshod. It stood on Huntington Drive, beside what later became the 210 Freeway, with one screen and room for about 850 cars. A newspaper drawing from late 1948 showed the same plan under the name Midway, and a partnership called Big Sky Corporation built it to a design by J. Arthur Drielsma.
The Pacific Drive-In circuit took over in October 1953 and ran it for the rest of its life. The sign was a tall slanted slab of ribbed metal with Big Sky in giant script, leaning out over a wide marquee. A 1984 newspaper called the orange and yellow screen a landmark. A former worker recalled a phone on a porch near the screen, and a miniature golf course with a giant golfer stood nearby.
The last listing found ran in the Monrovia News-Post on September 9, 1984, for Hollywood Hot Tubs and Surf II. That November the paper reported the screen would come down for a shopping center, in a $4.5 million land sale. A Target stands on the site now.