City/Town: • Enid |
Location Class: • Theater |
Built: • 1950 | Abandoned: • ~1984 |
Status: • Abandoned |
Photojournalist: • Darrell Powers |
Built in 1950 around the same time that the nearby Enid Drive-In was constructed the Trail Theatre was a single screen drive-in with a 400 car capacity. The Trail Drive-In Theatre is located south of the highway and Enid Drive-In was north of the highway. Admission was fifty cents per adult and ten cents for children. In 1955, both drive-ins were operated by Video Independent Theaters Inc. with a 400 car capacity and a single screen.
In 2020, the year of Covid-19 sparked drive-in movie popularity to resurge. The long-abandoned Trail Drive-In got its own resurge after a rally of locals fought for its revival. Over $30,000 was raised to repair the derelict theatre but the goal was $250,000. No word has been given yet if the efforts are still underway to save the Trail.
Article by AOK Photojournalist Emily Cowan
Gallery Below
Trail Drive In Theatre, photograph, 1950~; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1552417/: accessed June 13, 2021), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.
https://www.enidnews.com/news/local_news/vance-afb-couple-fundraising-to-reopen-drive-in-as-nonprofit/article_d861f036-83f7-5ecb-9b9b-98997fd95f60.html
https://www.savethedrivein.com/enid
https://www.newspapers.com/image/592639501/?terms=trail%20drive%20in&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/592669346/?terms=trail%20drive%20in&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/592657809/?terms=trail%20drive%20in&match=1
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