At the Mahoning Drive-In

A photo of the Mahoning Drive-In located at Lehighton Pennsylvania which was built in 1948 and began playing films in 1949. Drive-ins were the premier way to view movies during the 1950s. Sound was played either through wired speakers which you would put on your car door, or via a radio (FM) frequency. There were over 4,000 of them in the 1950s whereas less than 300 remain today.

The Mahoning drive-in recently gathered attention due to director Alexander Minnelli’s documentary “At The Drive-In” which highlights how the residents of Lehighton and the surrounding areas donated their time and money to keep the drive-in running.

The Mahoning Drive-In was initially operated by local James Humphries where up to 500 cars (later on up to 600 cars!) could park and watch films on the big screen from the comfort of their cars.

The drive-in is running strong today - open from May through Septembers playing 35mm film prints on weekends - and now has room for 900 cars, plays audio via 89.3 FM radio, has a screen measuring 120 feet wide, and they offer overnight passes where movie goers can watch a feature film and stay overnight.