Old Lincoln Drive In Theater, west of York, Pa.: ‘No sitter problems, No parking worries’
These newspaper advertisements from the late 1980s showed what was playing at the Lincoln Drive In and other York-area theaters. The Lincoln closed in 1987, reopened in 1989 and closed again soon thereafter. Interesting, none of the theaters in these advertisements stand today. Background posts: York County … ‘A smorgasbord of architectural styles’ and Just try to resist studying this memory-tugging photograph and Coca-Cola out in Springetts… self-storage space is real thing and Change flattens Stony Brook’s drive-in, humpback bridge.
York County Heritage Trust’s (now closed) “Then and Now” exhibit shows captivating before-and-after photographs of West Manchester Township’s Lincoln Drive In Theater.
That theater was to York’s west end what the Stonybrook Drive In was to the east side.
Both closed in the late 1990s when the large tracts they covered became more valuable for commercial purposes, a trend for such theaters in that time.
Some info on the Lincoln from “Then and Now”:
– Date established: 1948.
– First movie:” Do You Love Me?” That was a 1946 movie starring Dick Haymes, Maureen O’Hara, and Harry James and His Music Makers.
– Capacity: 700 vehicles viewed that movie’s screening.
– Marketed as: “No sitter problems,” “No parking worries,” Smoke if you like,” and “Refreshments available.”
– Currently covering the former drive in’s footprint: Aspen Transport Village.
– What’s left: Sidewalks to on-site manager’s house still under pine trees. A gazebo sits atop the well house.
Theaters, diners, motels and tourist cabins and roadside attractions all marked old highways.
Haar’s Drive In near Dillsburg, off Route 74, is a holdover outdoor theater in this region. The rest have gone the way of the Lincoln.
Also of interest:
– The 1950s, ’60s: ‘The greatest time to grow up in York, Pa.’.
