Midway
United, Kent
The familiar red, yellow and blue United screen back used to dot the landscape of the Seattle area, but now the only one left is on a drive-in that is not being used as a theater.
The neon and flashing lights on the marquee still work.
Was reportedly built in 1940 as the Northwest Motor Movie, and since expanded. You can see on the map that between the 1949 and 1968 map editions, the forest behind the theater was cut back and a new projection/snack booth was built. Midway was the only drive-In in south King County with a paved surface, which was easy on children's bare feet, but which could have hastened its conversion to a swap meet. This place also had the play equipment conveniently located behind the snack bar. They could afford to hire someone just to stand in front of the projection booth to prevent people from blocking the image. He also scared certain youngsters from even being able to stop and look for long at the projection works.
The remains of the playground. Note the "Swiss cheese" lamp in the foreground.
I doubt this was used as a transit storage facility, as implied by Don and Susan Sanders in their Washington tour for The American Drive-in Movie Theater's Web site. With this place going from day/night swap-meet/movies to full-time swap meets, they never had time to store vehicles, except as parking for the nearby Highline Community College. The Duwamish was even closer to Seattle, and I did visit that lot to see that it was used for large vehicle storage, so that could be the theater they were thinking of. Also, since this theater was the only drive-in around here for years after it opened in 1940, it is probably the theater in their 1943 picture.
The grounds and the screen still seem to be in excellent shape, even though all the speaker poles are removed. The street lights on Pacific Highway are still shielded to protect the screen.
Immediately to the south of the lot is the City of Seattle Midway Landfill. It fills the ground with so much methane that it discourages any further development, and preserves this site as an informal museum to the past.
3-D effects Coke clock in the snack bar, which was first used in the drive-in days.
Snack Bar & projection building. Submitted by Ken Layton
Midway snack bar interior. Typical of United Drive-in and their paint scheme, with the overly bright interior that is especially striking once your eyes have adjusted to the dark. Submitted by Ken Layton
USGS Des Moines, 1949, 1968 and 1973
Microsoft Terraserver Image of Midway Drive-in.
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