Villa Heights Drive-In
Statesville, North Carolina1948-1977
Order Villa Heights Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Cline family ran the Villa Heights in Statesville, North Carolina, and worked at getting people out there. A 1951 ad billed Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in person, and an Easter ad offered a free orchid to the first 100 ladies who came with a gentleman. Browse the styles below, and the full Villa Heights history is 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.
4 products
Villa Heights Drive-In History
The Villa Heights Drive-In in Statesville, North Carolina, opened on Monday, May 10, 1948, with Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall in The Hurricane. It stood on the Old Hickory Highway, now Newton Drive and U.S. 70, on the west side of town, with room for about 266 cars. The Cline family owned and ran it, along with the Hillcrest Drive-In on Salisbury Road for a time.
The Clines worked at getting people out there. A June 1951 ad billed Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in person, on stage, for one Wednesday night, with adults at 50 cents. An Easter ad offered a free orchid to the first 100 ladies who came with a gentleman, along with a program of Three Stooges shorts and cartoons.
In 1960 the family leased it to Statesville Theatre Corporation. Newspaper listings stop in 1977, just before the Gateway cinemas opened in town. The ramps and the foundation of the concession stand could still be seen in 2018, on a lot that's mostly empty.