Northern Drive-In
Phoenix, Arizona1955-1978
Order Northern Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. It opened on February 24, 1955, with Frank Sinatra in Suddenly and John Wayne in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, under a sign with the name in fat white script and an arrow of bulbs pointing the way in. Kmart had a store open on the land about nine months after the last show. Browse the styles below, and the full Northern history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Northern Drive-In History
The Northern Drive-In in Phoenix, Arizona, opened on February 24, 1955, at 2526 West Northern Avenue, with Frank Sinatra in Suddenly and John Wayne in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. It was the ninth drive-in in the city and an independent one, big at 1,000 cars or more. Its sign ran the name in fat white script over a marquee, with a long arrow of bulbs bending around the board and pointing the way in.
From 1962 to 1971 it was listed with the eleven drive-ins of Southwest Drive-In and Foreman-Nace Theatres, along with the Acres, the Peso, the Silver Dollar and the Sands. Southwest was the last to run it.
The Northern closed on February 14, 1978, a Valentine's Day, on a double bill of Obsession and Oh, God! The land went to Kmart, which had a store open by November 9 of the same year. That is about nine months from drive-in to discount store. The Kmart closed in October 2017, and the building was still empty in 2025.