Trails Drive-In
Milan, New Mexico1954-1980s
Order Trails Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. J. C. West kept it going on Route 66 through the area's uranium years, and its printed programs ran Spanish-language double bills beside John Wayne and Elvis. A 1971 program advised customers, off to one side, to attend the church of their choice every Sunday. Pick a style below, then read the full Trails 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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Trails Drive-In History
The Trails Drive-In in Milan, New Mexico, stood on Route 66 just west of Grants, in open desert when it was built. J. C. West, who owned the Lux Theatre in Grants, bought $15,000 worth of equipment for it in April 1953. Boxoffice reported that September that he was opening it that month, then in January 1954 that he expected to open in the spring, and an aerial from that same January shows a screen with no booth or ramps. So it most likely opened in 1954. It held 225 to 300 cars.
West, who also ran the West Theatre in Grants and closed his other drive-in, the Sahara, in 1964, kept the Trails going through the area's uranium years. Its sign was a long marquee standing high on five legs in the sand, with The Trails in slanted capitals along the top. Its printed monthly programs ran Spanish-language double bills beside John Wayne and Elvis, and a 1971 program advised customers, off to one side, to attend the church of their choice every Sunday.
West leased his theaters to Theatre Operators in 1977, and the company sold them to its former city manager, Roy McDowell, in 1984. The Albuquerque Journal noted in June 1983 that the Trails, which sometimes showed R-rated pictures, was about as close as Grants came to dirty movies. It was still in the directories in 1988, but no closing date has turned up. The screen was gone by a 1997 aerial. The ramps can still be seen in the field behind a church on Valencia Avenue.