News Article: Cleveland Firm Planning Open Airer for Motor City - Building of a new 1,000-car drive-in for Southwestern Detroit will mark the first venture in this area by Ohio Drive-In Theater Company, Cleveland, operators of an outdoor circuit in the neighboring state. New house, to be called the Ecorse Drive-In, will cost about $150,000. Decoration Day is the tentative opening date. (Billboard Magazine 4/1/50)

News Article: The Ecorse Road Drive-In in Taylor Township, one of the largest drive-ins in the Detroit area, is being taken over by Sportservice of Buffalo, a national concession organization which operates five drive-ins. The theatre was formerly operated by Ohio Drive-Ins Management Company (Interstate Drive-Ins) and Ecorse Drive-In Theatre Company. William E. Ahrens remains general manager. (Boxoffice Magazine 7/60)

News Article: Sportservice Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y. has announced plans to convert their Ecorse Drive-In in suburban Taylor into a twin. The second drive-in will be located on a large tract of land owned by Sportservice in the rear of the present Ecorse Drive-In. There will be two screens at opposite ends, with a central concession building. Work will commence in April under the supervision of Al Gotts, area supervisor for Sportservice, an international organization operating concessions in drive-ins around the world. (Boxoffice Magazine 12/8/69)

Status: ECORSE -- Ecorse Rd near Telegraph, Detroit -- Capacity about 1000 cars. Concession stand built below grade and used to flood during heavy rains. The original screen was blown down during a severe storm in the summer of 1980. The replacement screen is currently in use at the Ford Wyoming Drive In. Closed in either late 1985 or 1986. (Evil Sams Drive-In Theatre Guide/Fredrick R. 1996)

Update: Gone, site is a now farmer jack store. (Whit Whitworth 12/98)

Update: The Ecorse Drive-In was located in Taylor Michigan not Dearborn as is stated, one block east of Monroe Blvd. The original screen was blown down in a large storm one summer (can't remember what year ).It was replaced (after being down a whole season) with a tubular metal structure screen but never got back to business like before the screen fell. Went out of business shortly after. Just thought you might like to know. " (Scott True 3/7/02)

Update: The Ecorse DI screen was destroyed by either a tornado, or straight line winds back in the summer of 1980. Some of you might recall the storm that rolled through the Detroit area early one morning while the Republicans were in Detroit to nominate Ronald Reagan. Not only was the screen destroyed, but the roof was torn off the office and left in a muffler shop parking lot farther down on Ecorse. The Ecorse wasn't the only DI that suffered damage from that storm, the Dearborn DI screen split in the middle near the top and the west side of the screen over-lapped the east side by about 18". And the high fence along the exit, near the screen at the Algiers DI was bent over at a 10 degree angle. (Fredrick R. 9/15/03)

Update:"....Another costly F2 tornado occurred in the Allen Park and Ecorse areas on July 16, 1980. A number of buildings, as well as a train, were either damaged or destroyed by this tornado before it moved into Ontario. Total damage was estimated at over $5 million." (National Weather Service 9/15/03)

Update: FYI...the storm that knocked the original single screen down was July 16, 1980. I know this because I drove a vending truck (hot foods) to businesses and I had to high tail it to a quarter car wash for cover. The whole sky turned a lime green,nothing like I had ever seen before. Trees were literally ripped right out of the ground. The next day after the storm, someone had spray painted on the marquee which was still standing "Gone with the Wind". Thought you might like to know. (Mark Reed 5/6/04)

Update: The Ecorse Drive did not close in 1985. It may have lasted till either 1988 or possibly even 1989. In fact, I remember seeing Beverly Hills Cop Part 2 and The Golden Child at the Ecorse Drive In with my parents and my older sister. Both of these movies were made after 1985. (Butch Hoek 9/11/06)

Update: I lived right smack next door to Ecorse drive-in from 1979 - present. tThe storm was 1980, and pieces of the wall were all in my backyard!! Our pool was found 5 houses down. We used to sit under the crabappple tree and tune our radios to an A.M station and watch the movies under the tree. I can recall watching Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters,and the most of all E.T. The worst part of living next door to the drive-in was intermission. people would honk horns, throw things over the wall,and worst attract rodents. The time they tore the drive-in down (1987). I used to play in the old abandoned concession stand. The popcorn machines were still there! So were old tickets that were not printed. The city let it over grow with weeds for a few years. Us kids in the neighborhood used to make mazes with the overgrown weeds and ride our bikes through them. Not too far after, they cleared the land for McDonalds. Then came Farmer Jack, Rite Aid, Taco Bell, and Dunhams, Sec of State, and few in between. Sec of State and fast food are alll that is left. All out of business. I have some old pics of the drive-in !! from about 1978-and early 80''s! I will submit them 4 ya soon!! (Waterwinterwonderland.com/Sheila Baeudoin 9/11/08)

Update: There was a picture in the local paper when the screen blew down where someone had spray-painted "Gone With the Wind" on the marquee. I'd like to see that picture, or one similar. I worked at Ecorse Drive-In during the summer of 1987. It was the most fun job I''ve ever had. On more than one occasion, I had to kick some of my friends out for being too rowdy. At night, after all the customers left we used to have water gun battles. Some of the guys spent money on elaborate water guns. Back in those days you could buy water guns that looked very realistic. I could tell a lot of stories about that place. I had some good friends there: Eric, "T is for Tom." Sadly, that was the year the drive-in closed forever. All Hail Emperor Randy! (Waterwinterwonderland.com/Donnie Love 11/11/08)

Update: What a great photo of the drive-in in it's prime. In the mid 1960's there was a hamburger drive-in right next door called "Peppy's. They had White Castle style burgers that were either a dime or fifteen cents a piece. Mom would pop a huge paper shopping bag full of popcorn. We''d pick up one 6 pack of Coca-Cola in glass bottles and Dad would splurge on a bag full of Peppy''s burgers and then into the Drive-In. There were 4 of us kids and my little brother and I had to wear our PJ's. That place was packed on Friday and Saturday nights. They had a playground up by the screen and there'd be a couple hundred kids (half in PJ''s) running around until showtime. Seems to me they always ran cartoons for the first 15 minutes or so. That was the cue to get back to the car. It was sad what the "Green Sky Storm" of July 16, 1980 did to the Ecorse. Does anyone remember if the Jolly Roger Drive-In was hit as bad? They were only a mile apart. I went to the Ford-Wyoming twice last summer, had probably been 25 years since I'd been to the Drive-in. It was a blast.(Waterwinterwonderland.com/Thor 1/10/09)

Update: Wow! Amazing photos of an old hang out of mine in the 70s! Like others, I also remember going to Peppys burgers as a kid and my parents would buy us those White Castle type burgers and fries, then on to the drive-in next door for cartoons,then a double feature.We would all arrive in our pajamas, and would go up front on the playground, and once the movies would begin, everyone would start honking,and all the kids would run back to their cars. If I recall, at that time, they had these square,aluminum type speakers you would place in your car window.I also remember being told if we behaved, we would all get to go to Little Skippers (a drive-in A & W type joint) about a mile down the road to enjoy a root beer float. By the mid 70's (1975-1977), we were in High School and going to the Ecorse Drive-in was a great way to spend a Friday or Saturday night. We always had one or two of our friends hop in the trunk and sneak in. We would pull in the back of the lot, and let them out. I recall seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time and also remember as a senior, in 1977, watching Smokey and the Bandit at the drive-in. Memories of a few awesome dates also. Many other great stories and memories, but the most ironic thing when I first came across the photo of the summer 1980 storm photos, I also have photos of a 150 year old Willow tree laying down in our front yard on Calvin street in Taylor the same day. I remember that time well.You couldnt even drive around due to all the damage. It took days to clean up the mess on all the streets in Taylor subdivisions. I will forward some pics of that day soon to post on your site. Thanks for some wonderful memories. (Waterwinterwonderland.com/J. Browne 3/18/09)

Update: The damage to the drive-in was not done by a tornado. I remember this storm very well. I was 8 years old and the worse storm of my life struck the Metro-Detroit area on a Saturday morning in July of 1980. The sky and the air turned green, and when it was over there was substantial damage done in the area. My family and I lived in Westland and traveled that afternoon to Taylor to check on my grandmother''s house who was up in Northern Michigan at that time. I remember going by there and seeing the damage. This was a special place to my dad as my grandfather had moonlighted there on weekends in the 1960's. I will never forget that day. (Waterwinterwonderland.com/Nick 3/27/09)