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Simpson County Roads: 49 Drive-In
By: Andy Baeuerle
Driving towards Magee on Highway 149, you’ll travel through a community known as “Sanatorium,” home to the Mississippi Tuberculosis Sanatorium, the largest TB hospital in the Southeast U.S. from 1916 to 1976. Sanatorium was a sprawling community until the hospital’s closure and the building of 4-lane Highway 49 around the community led to its slow decline. But as you’re driving along and look to the left of the highway through all the brush and trees, you’ll notice an abnormally shaped and very tall metal building. However, this is not just a building. It was the screen for a large drive-in movie theater in Magee.
Opened in October of 1950 by Mrs. Ural Everett, drive-in theaters were hitting their peak in popularity in the United States. Although there were many indoor theaters in Simpson County at the time, a drive-in theater was new to the county and the surrounding area. In the late 1950s, Mrs. Everett turned ownership of the theater over to her son Billy Herbert.
With a large concession stand, a screen supported by two telephone poles, and a 7-acre lot, the 49 Drive-In grew to become one of the largest drive-ins in the Southeast. The lot could hold up to 120 cars, and according to Mr. Everett himself, the drive-in would average 2.5 people a car, meaning a whole lot could accommodate 300 people more or less, depending on how many were in the cars. This could also change based on the number of people that were snuck in through the trunks of cars. Showing movies each night of each week, the drive-in was a big hit for Magee. Mr. Billy Herbert also owned the “Lakeview Drive-In” in Taylorsville. This drive-in did not last quite as long as the 49 Drive-In, but many workers from 49 also worked at Lakeview, serving concessions and running projectors. Mr. Everett also owned a movie theater in Water Valley, MS, as well.
As stated, the drive-in sat on a 7-acre lot, allowing around 120 cars to view movies. However, this lot was different from most drive-ins. Most drive-ins have a projector in the middle of the field for smaller screens. The first screen at 49 was small enough, only made of asbestos siding and two telephone poles. Following a powerful storm in 1958, the old screen was torn down and a new one was built a year later. This new screen was so large that a new projector was needed. The new projector was actually one of the largest of its kind and needed to be placed very far back to be able to cast the full picture. The new projector house was built on top of the concession stand, located nearly 400 feet from the front face of the screen.
Many remnants of the old drive-in are still around today. The land is a residence now, but I got to visit the land and get a few photos. The screen and box office are still visible from the road. The projector and concession stand, however, are on the land and not visible from the road. They are still in excellent shape and hold bits of history still. The old marquee is not visible due to the growing sugar cane. It is still there and is in excellent condition, like it would’ve been when the drive-in closed.
I got to talk to Richard Harper, a man who worked for Mr. Everett. I asked him why the drive-in was closed. It would seem they would’ve grown more popular today, much like many other old trends, such as vinyl records. Mr. Harper told me, “Daylight Savings Time is what ultimately killed the drive-in industry. We would usually start a showing around 7. But after Savings Time, we would start a showing closer to 9, and people wouldn’t want to get out that late in the middle of the week. And on weekends, we would do a double feature. We would start a movie at 9, and it would be 1 the next morning before it ended.”
In June 1989, the 49 Drive-In shut down for good. Due to Daylight Savings Time and the rising interest in indoor theaters, the drive-in industry fell apart. In Mississippi, there were around 70 drive-in theaters in the state in the 1950s. Today, only one survives. The Iuka Drive-In in Iuka still has movie showings and operates Friday nights thru Monday nights. A true marvel was lost, as many generations today will never witness the drive-in. All we have of the 49 Drive-In today is a rusted 64 year-old screen by a highway and the pictures and stories of those before us who worked there or frequented the theater. So the next time you’re heading down Highway 149 (Old 49 to the locals) and you see that tall metal building, just know that served a major part in our parents and grandparents lives, and that it is a remnant of a lost culture.
Quick Story: When you drive by the old screen, you’ll notice a thick patch of sugar cane. There is actually a neat story behind this. Mr. Richard Harper told me the old road to the ticket office went behind the old screen, parallel to 149. Every time a car would turn in, the headlights of that car would shine across the field and in the faces of those waiting for the film to begin or the ones already watching. So Mr. Richard and Mr. Billy Herbert planted that sugar cane to grow thick enough to give some shade for the bright headlights. And still today, it appears this worked efficiently as a sugar cane forest surrounds the marquee and old entrance.
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
Enjoyed this this article so much. Thank you.
Good article! Some of my best memories are going to that Drive In. We would load up in the car, sometimes in a truck, turn the truck backwards and sit in lawn chairs to view the movie. We loved the Chili dogs even though no one was allowed to turn on the inside lights because they looked gross, but oh so good! Some of the movies I saw there were Young Frankenstein, The Exorcist(big mistake watching that one…still haunts me), Smokey and The Bandit, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, just to name a few. I loved the night air, the fun times we had and the memories we made.
Thank you for this article! So near and dear to my heart as two of my uncles, Clarence Kennedy and Sammy Kennedy worked for Mrs. Ural, along with my brothers Thomas and Billy Mac Earles. They all worked at the theater; however, I’m not sure if my uncles worked at the Drive-In as Thomas and Billy Mac did. Mrs. Ural was a pioneer business woman whom I admired since I was a child. She was a woman of great vision and had an entrepreneur spirit, including real estate and a laundry mat in Eastside Community. Billy Mac worked at the Drive-In until it closed as best I can remember. I remember the theater burned the month my mother passed away May 1972 with the letters of “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factor” left on the marquee for years following the burn. Both the theater and drive-in will always hold a special place in my childhood memories – thanks to Mrs. Ural for the memories and the blessing of knowing the coolest lady who taught me so much! Pamela Earles
My Mama was from Magee she use to tell my sister and I stories about how my grandmother would take her and my aunt to the movies on the weekend and how some of their friends would sneak people in in the trunk of cars. Before it closed down my mom took my cousin and I to see Bambi. And when I had my daughter I stopped on the side of the road and showed her the drive in.i miss it because that is a part of my memories I will never forget.
Great times spent at this drive in. Wish we had stuff for the kids to make memories with in Simpson County.
Watched alot of movies there with friends wish it still was there being from hot coffee ms. 49 drive in was a reward after Lakeview closed down the first movie I remember seeing there was blue Hawaii with Elvis presley
Great memories as a child. Only remember going maybe twice. I was very young. But the memory is a good one. I hate that the children now don’t get to experience this.
Spent many wonderful evenings there.
Didn’t know they showed movies.🤓😳