Where Are They Now?
Across America, countless Drive-Ins once brought movie magic to fields beneath the stars. Some have vanished completely beneath new development. At others, screen towers, ramps, buildings, and traces of the original field still remain.
Lost Drive-Ins explores what became of these theaters—preserving their histories, photographs, and memories before they disappear.
Gone Without a Trace
Richard Hollingshead’s Original Drive-In
Pennsauken Township, near Camden, New Jersey • Opened June 6, 1933
Richard Hollingshead’s original Drive-In Theatre
Pennsauken Township, New Jersey • August 1933
Electronics magazine via Wikimedia Commons • Public domain
The theater opened on June 6, 1933, with the film Wives Beware. More than 600 motorists attended its first night, watching and listening from their cars. The new attraction offered several showtimes each evening, but its run was brief: the theater had closed and been demolished by 1940.
Hollingshead arranged the parking ramps (called “stall-ways” in his patent) to tilt cars upward, giving moviegoers a clear view of the screen over the cars ahead. Drivers pulled onto a ramp facing the screen, then backed into the drive lane when it was time to leave. A raised barrier along the front of the ramp limited how far forward a car could go. The design shows how carefully Hollingshead planned the experience of watching a movie from a car.
Where Is It Now?
The drive-in stood along Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Pennsauken, on land later occupied in part by Zinman Furs and its parking area. Zinman Furs closed in March 2026, and the property at 2901 Admiral Wilson Boulevard is listed for sale or lease. The screen and parking ramps are gone, but the address remains a landmark in drive-in history.