Star Auto Theatre
Wauseon, Ohio1952-1999
Order Star Auto Theatre tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The wind kept taking the screen in Wauseon, Ohio: a 1961 storm blew down half the tower, and a 1964 storm knocked over its replacement, so the Wyse family put up a steel one. The last show in 1999 drew 776 people, and the board on the tower said goodbye three different ways. Browse the styles below, and the full Star Auto history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Star Auto Theatre History
The Star Auto Theatre in Wauseon, Ohio, opened on August 2, 1952, with The Big Trees. D. Lee McLain built it, and he was so slow to name it that people called it the Wauseon Drive-In during construction. It held about 303 cars. Leroy Wyse, a finance company manager, and his son Richard, a potato chip salesman, bought it in June 1960, keeping their jobs at first.
The wind kept taking the screen. A storm on June 2, 1961, with gusts reported up to 100 miles per hour, blew down half the tower, and the theater was back within a month. A second storm on March 5, 1964, knocked over the replacement, and a steel tower went up for an April reopening with a free show. The family also opened the Star Brite Laundromat and the Star Mobile Home Court next door. In 1998 the owner told a newspaper that skunks had come for the french fries.
In 1999 Richard Wyse took an offer on the land from a company called Star-Wauseon. The last show ran on Saturday, September 18, 1999, with The Sixth Sense and Enemy of the State. Word got around, and 776 people came. The board on the tower thanked the town for letting the staff entertain it, then said goodbye three different ways. The screen tower stood until 2010.