Sharpstown Drive-In
Houston, Texas1958-1976
Browse Sharpstown Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Houston drive-in opened on February 26, 1958, with room for 1,281 cars, and its opening ad offered a kiddie zoo, a miniature railroad, a circus playground and Boffo the Clown, with children under 12 free. The train ran around the base of the screen and through a tunnel. Pick a style below, then read the full Sharpstown history further down. Down Home Apparel is an American small business remembering the best places and teams of yesteryear, and every shirt is printed to order in the USA.
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Sharpstown Drive-In History
The Sharpstown Drive-In in Houston, Texas, opened on February 26, 1958, as Loew's Sharpstown Open-Air Theatre, with Jerry Lewis in The Sad Sack and George Montgomery in Pawnee. It stood at Bellaire Boulevard and Hillcroft Avenue, near the Sharpstown development of Houston builder Frank Sharp, and it held 1,281 cars. John J. McNamara was the architect. Chill Wills and Barbara Lang were billed to appear in person, and Lewis's name was on a newspaper ad thanking Loew's for choosing his picture.
The opening ad went after families. It offered a kiddie zoo, a miniature railroad, a circus playground, a merry-go-round and Boffo the Clown, with children under 12 free. The train ran around the base of the screen and through a tunnel. At night the marquee sat inside a huge oval of lights with Sharpstown in script across it.
The lights around it became the problem. A customer recalled the theater spending years trying to get a neighboring shopping center to turn off its big red neon sign. As the city grew in, the crowd thinned and the bookings slid, down to soft-core films.
Tercar Theatres ran it at the end. It closed on March 28, 1976, with Sky Riders and Race with the Devil. A strip mall stands on the lot now.