Canyon Drive-In
Canyon, Texas1952-1977
Shop Canyon Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. After sitting empty for about a decade, it came back on June 8, 1977, with King Kong and The Lost Continent under new owners Mr. and Mrs. Harry Swanson. Their dusk to dawn horror shows didn't work, and they closed it after that one season. Choose a style below, and find the full Canyon history further down. We are an American small business bringing back the signs and logos of places and teams that are long gone but remembered fondly.
4 products
Canyon Drive-In History
The Canyon Drive-In in Canyon, Texas, opened on September 6, 1952, at the corner of Hereford Highway and First Street, with room for 328 cars. W.J. Wooten opened it. He ran the Olympic Theatre in town, and his interest in Canyon movies went back to the original Olympic in 1919. A 1955-56 theater directory lists the Canyon Drive-In with Wooten as its executive. The tower carried a big white board reading CANYON DRIVE-IN over a dark face and a row of bold black and white stripes along its base.
Wooten ran it for 15 seasons, possibly until a lease ran out, and then it sat empty for about a decade. The city nearly razed it in a revitalization project.
Then Mr. and Mrs. Harry Swanson bought all three of the town's theaters. They thought about reopening the old Olympic and chose the drive-in instead. It came back on June 8, 1977, with King Kong and The Lost Continent, and they tried dusk to dawn horror shows. It didn't work. They closed it after that one season, it stood vacant again, and it was razed in 1985.