TEX-OK Drive-In
Burkburnett, Texas
Order TEX-OK Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The TEX-OK was a one-screen drive-in for 295 cars at 1523 E. 3rd Street in Burkburnett, Texas, on the road toward the Oklahoma line, which explains the name. Heavy rain postponed its opening in early June 1952. Pick a style below, then read the full TEX-OK 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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TEX-OK Drive-In History
The TEX-OK Drive-In in Burkburnett, Texas, was a one-screen outdoor theater at 1523 E. 3rd Street, on the road toward the Oklahoma line, which explains the name. It had room for 295 cars. Cinema Treasures lists R.I. Payne and Frontier Theatres as operators.
A Billboard item dated June 14, 1952, said the opening was first postponed by heavy rain and then took place the week before. It named Louis Littlefair as manager. That fixes the opening in early June 1952. By autumn Littlefair was running a promotion in the snack bar. A trade paper reported in October 1952 that he hung a small blackboard on the wall and listed ten license plate numbers on it, picked at random from cars at the theater. Any driver whose number was on the board won two passes to a later show.
In March 1955 the Exhibitor reported that Williams Steel had become manager of the Palace and the TEX-OK Drive-In, both in Burkburnett and both Frontier Theatres houses. Trade yearbooks listed the drive-in from 1953 to 1958, and a 1964 almanac still listed it, though such lists often ran behind events.
The closing year is less certain. Drive-ins.com gives 1964, with a photograph it dates to that year. Cinema Treasures says only that it closed in the late 1960s, and a commenter notes that a 1971 aerial photo shows the booth and concession building and possibly the screen still standing, so it had closed before then. The theater is demolished. Only the foundation of the projection booth and concession stand remains.