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220 Drive-In
Koehler Rd., off Virginia Ave. (US 220/Business) north of Martinsville, Va.
capacity: 460 cars
years of operation: 1968-87
currently: abandoned (for sale, Sept. 1999) used-car lot; entrance and snack/projection building still stand

Martinsville must have been one heckuva supportive drive-in town; as late as 1973, there were FOUR drive-ins serving the 70,000 or so people of the city and surrounding Henry County, including this one, which debuted Labor Day weekend of 1968 and boasted state-of-the-art facilities including a 90-foot steel screen, paved lot, in-car "stereo sound" and air-conditioned cafeteria-style snack bar. The opening feature was Hang 'Em High. Exactly 19 years later (Labor Day eve 1987), it showed a double feature of Dragnet and Crocodile Dundee the night before the worst flood to hit Martinsville in 50 years inundated much of the area, including the low-lying 220. Whether or not this was a factor in closing it for the season, and then for good, is not known to me.

Click here to see a 1995 aerial photograph of the drive-in turned used-car lot.

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220 Drive-In ticket booth.

Former 220 Drive-In snack bar/projection building. Photos taken June 2007.