Knox Auto Theatre
Mount Vernon, Ohio1948-1988
Order Knox Auto Theatre tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. It was the first outdoor theater in Knox County, Ohio, and opened in 1948 with a new Ford V-8 parked on the lot. Its neon sign showed KNOX over Auto Theatre in script, with a woman in a small round hat at one end. Browse the styles below, and the full Knox history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
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Knox Auto Theatre History
The Knox Auto Theatre in Mount Vernon, Ohio, opened on June 17, 1948, with Randolph Scott in Gunfighters, a Three Stooges short and a Bugs Bunny cartoon. A new Ford V-8 was parked on the lot for the occasion. It was the first outdoor theater in Knox County, and stood on Newark Road on the south side of town, with room for 300 cars and a snack bar billed as a snackateria.
Ronald W. Sturgess, a former theater manager from Coshocton, opened it with W. H. Bachert Jr. of the same town. His son Richard and Richard's wife Mary took over in the 1970s. A projectionist who worked there in 1979 recalls that after the last feature they would run the first two reels again, for anyone who had come in late.
The neon sign showed KNOX in big letters over Auto Theatre in script, with a woman in a small round hat and a fitted jacket standing at one end. People in town still swap stories about the place, including how many friends fit in a trunk. The record claimed online is eight.
The last shows were on September 3 and 4, 1988, with Bambi and Big Business. The 280 speakers were sold off at ten dollars each, and the 22.6 acres went to an area development foundation and then to the window factory next door. The old sign survived, weathered and rusted, and is reported to be with the Knox County Historical Society.