Mt. Elden Drive-In
The Mt. Elden Drive-In in Flagstaff, Arizona, opened at the end of May 1953 with Across the Wide Missouri and The Painted Hills. Its opening ad in the Arizona Daily Sun called it Northern Arizona's largest and finest outdoor show place. It stood east of downtown on Route 66, now 2710 Historic Route 66, with one screen and room for about 500 cars. A 1951 trade item shows the project starting two years earlier, under Harry L. Nace and Ray Olmstead for Northern Arizona Theatres.
The name came from the mountain that rises nearly 2,400 feet over the east side of town. Mount Elden is a lava dome, named for John Elden, who kept sheep at its base from 1877.
The last show was on Sunday, October 9, 1977, with Eat My Dust and Thunder and Lightning. By May 1978 the local paper was calling it the now-defunct Mt. Elden Drive-In. The lot was still there in 1980, and the Postal Service has it now.
