Ranch Drive-In
Ames, Iowa1949-1995
Shop Ranch Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The screen tower was the advertisement, with The Ranch in blue script drawn as rope and a small bucking horse and rider at one end, over a brick front that looked more like a farmhouse than a movie house. It outlasted most of its kind and was still opening new releases in June 1991. Pick a style below, then read the full Ranch history further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Ranch Drive-In History
The Ranch Drive-In in Ames, Iowa, opened on July 7, 1949, with Glenn Ford in The Return of October. It stood on the old Lincoln Highway west of town, at 5820 West Lincoln Way, with one screen and room for 518 cars. The Ames Theatre Company built it.
The screen tower was the advertisement. Its top was a white board carrying the words The Ranch in blue script drawn as rope, with a small bucking horse and rider at one end and Theater in block letters below. Under it sat a brick front with shuttered windows, more like a farmhouse than a movie house, and pale stepped wings on either side.
In August 1962 the Ames theaters, the Ranch among them, passed to the Central States Theatre Circuit. The drive-in kept running well past most of its kind and was still opening new releases in June 1991. Cinema Treasures has it closing in 1995 and coming down in 1999. Drive-ins.com says 1996. A 2009 photo shows little left.