Plover’s Highway 51 Outdoor Theater opened at time where drive in theaters were becoming increasingly popular across the country. The story of what was originally known as a “Park-In” theater, starts in 1933 Camden, New Jersey with the opening of the nation’s first open air theater. The drive in theater idea is said to have been inspired by entrepreneur, Richard Hollingshead, who wanted to make movies more enjoyable for his mother who had difficulty sitting in typical folding theater seats. After much experimentation, Hollingshead introduced his idea of the outdoor, open air theater where customers could watch movies from the familiarity and convenience of their own front seat.
Bringing Hollywood to the masses in the most accessible way, drive in theaters instantly cemented their space within American pop culture and quickly become an iconic piece of our past.
Wisconsin’s first drive in opened in Brookfield in June of 1940. It remained the state’s only open air theater until the 41 Twin Outdoor opened in Franklin during the summer of 1948. Within the next six years, the number of drive-ins theaters in the Milwaukee area would quickly increase from 2 to 20 by 1954, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. State wide it has been reported that there were at least 54 outdoor drive in theaters across the Wisconsin. Some of them even running year round by offering in car heaters for rent during the coldest of cold months.
The Highway 51 Outdoor Theater opened in May of 1949 at the now forgotten area known as Cooper’s Corners near the corner of today’s Tommy’s Turnpike and Post Road. The theater could fit up to 450 cars and cue up at least 300 more waiting for the next feature. The Stevens Point Daily Journal wrote that police reported significant traffic issues on the gala opening night, commenting on how citizens needed to remember that Paper Mill Road (Tommy’s Turnpike) was a single lane road and not a double lane highway.
As the way American’s watched and enjoyed movies changed over the decades thanks to the popularity of the multiplex theaters, by the 1970s, open air theaters began to lose their appeal. With the introduction of the home based VCR and the easily rented video home system cassette, drive in theater grounds soon became more valuable as real estate than as outdoor theaters. Many owners eventually sold to commercial and housing developers.
Wisconsin’s first outdoor theater, the Bluemound Drive-In, closed in 1981 and was quickly developed into commercial and office space. The 41 Twin Outdoor, the Milwaukee area’s last traditional drive-in, closed after the 2001 season. Today the Franklin Northwestern Mutual Insurance campus stands on the property. The 41 Twin’s screens and speakers may be gone, but the memories have not been forgotten. Drive in enthusiast and historian, Charles Bruss, spent countless hours researching and doing the work to have a Milwaukee County Historical Society plaque placed at the site. Today, it is one of few historical markers memorializing a drive in theater in the country.
For many years, locals will remember The Highway 51 Outdoor Theater’s marquee standing strong on Post Road well after the reels playing. The theater closed in the early 90s, and the five story screen remained until it eventually collapsed. The land was later developed and a grocery store built, but soon abandoned. Today the building is used as a warehouse.
Please enjoy these theater ads from the Stevens Point Daily Journal and 1979 photos taken by John W Vomvoris.
What are your favorite Highway 51 Drive In memories? Let us know by commenting here, messaging us on Facebook, or emailing contact@historicstevenspoint.com
Historic Stevens Point 