Bordertown Drive-In
Laredo, Texas1955-1983
Shop Bordertown Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The tower carried BORDERTOWN in brown capitals over a painted mural of a big grinning bull with two small airplanes flying past its head. John Margolies photographed it in 1982, and nobody explains the planes. Pick a style below, then read the full Bordertown 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
Bordertown Drive-In History
The Bordertown Drive-In in Laredo, Texas, opened on November 10, 1955, on San Bernardo Avenue with George Montgomery in Robbers' Roost, according to its grand opening ad in the Laredo Times. It had two screens and a playground.
Its tower was hard to miss. BORDERTOWN ran across the top in brown capitals over a painted mural of a big brown and white bull standing head-on, grinning, with two small airplanes flying past its head. Red stepped caps topped the tower's corners, each flying a pennant. John Margolies photographed it in 1982. A Drive-ins.com note credits a picture of the bull to Ticket to Paradise, a book by Margolies and Emily Gwathmey, and another note there calls it a cow. Nobody explains the planes.
A contributor reports the Laredo Times saying it closed on September 6, 1983, and the Cinema Treasures overview ties the closing to development along I-35. Another contributor remembers a flea market there in the 1980s. A Sam's Club now covers the site, and traces of the ramps can still be seen.