River Road Drive-In Theatre Foundation Remains in Longview, Texas

LONGVIEW, TEXAS - The River Road Drive-In Theatre, once a popular three-screen venue located on Edwin Street in the southern part of Longview, Texas, now exists only in memory. It was demolished in 1989 by Oak Hill Construction Company, the same firm responsible for taking down two other Longview landmarks, the old Longview High School and the Downtowner Hotel.

I was twelve years old when I captured these photographs with my 110mm film camera. Though the drive-in had already fallen silent, its empty lots, crumbling screens, and overgrown parking lanes still echoed with the memories of summer nights, car radios, and families gathered beneath the stars.

Drive-in theaters like River Road were once a quintessential part of East Texas life, particularly from the 1950s through the 1970s. They offered a unique social space where communities could gather, children could play while parents watched movies, and teenagers could experience a sense of independence under the night sky. As television became more widespread and multiplex cinemas grew in popularity, many of these theaters closed, leaving behind quiet remnants of a bygone era.

Looking back, these photographs serve as a small record of that history, a fleeting glimpse of a time when movies were projected across open fields, families arrived by car, and the simple magic of cinema was shared under the stars.

Remains of the old River-Road Drive-In Theatre

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