Springs Road Drive-In
Hickory, North Carolina1948-1985
Browse Springs Road Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Springs Road opened in Hickory, North Carolina, on November 3, 1948, and its opening ad told customers to come for supper and stay for the show, with fried chicken in the basket at the concession stand. By 1979 it was running X-rated films, and a mulch business has the property now. Pick a style below, then read the full Springs Road history further down. We are an American small business bringing back the signs and logos of places and teams that are long gone but remembered fondly.
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Springs Road Drive-In History
The Springs Road Drive-In in Hickory, North Carolina, opened on Wednesday, November 3, 1948, with Walter Pidgeon in Holiday in Mexico. It was built on the old Lail School property, at about 3811 Springs Road. The opening ad named Western Carolina Theatres as operator, charged 50 cents a person, let children under 12 in free, and advised customers to come for supper and stay for the show, with fried chicken in the basket at the concession stand. A.J. Rumley is listed as an early operator, and Piedmont Theatres ran it later.
By 1979 it was running X-rated films. A print ad from that year has the name across the top in big letters with an oversized S, over a double bill and a warning that identification would be required. A comment on another theater's page says a drive-in in nearby Conover closed in 1967 and merged with Springs Road, though it doesn't explain what that meant.
The Springs Road closed in 1985. A mulch business now has the property, and little remains of the theater beyond a few rows of ramps in the trees at the back. It shouldn't be mixed up with the Thunderbird Drive-In, opened in 1971 about half a mile west on the same road, whose screen stood for years over a flea market.