California's first drive-in movie theatre opened in
June of 1938 (there were less than 15 "auto theatres"
in all of America at that point). Within just ten years,
another 43 drive-ins had opened up and Calfornia was
on its way to becoming one of the top drive-in states.
Between 1948 - 1958, the number of drive-ins in the
state of California more than quadrupled and, while
the number of operating drive-ins in most states had
peaked in the late 1950's, the number of drive-ins in
the state of California kept climbing through the 60's,
with more than 220 in operation by end of the decade.
Since that time, the number of drive-ins operating within
the state has declined by 90%. Still, California is one of
the Top5 Drive-in states and more than 20 remain open.
