The Michigan Drive-In Theatre Timeline is a year-by-year listings of drive-in openings, 
closings and events detailing the rise and fall of the 140-plus drive-in theatres 
that once operated in the State of Michigan. Also included are significant historical
events relating to Michigan, the automotive industry and some of Hollywoods offerings. 

1940
The Westside on 8 Mile Road in Detroit opens
on April 26th, 1940, Michigan's second drive-in.

1941-45
The United States enters World War II in December 1941, which brings new drive-in 
theatre construction to a grinding halt nationwide. Civilian car production ceases 
in February 1942 as Detroit auto factories are utilized for the war effort. The 
Willow Run Bomber Plant near Ypsilanti builds it first B-24 Bomber in October 1942.

1945
The short-lived Walled Lake Drive-In opens.

Michigan Rock legend Bob Seger is born in Dearborn 
on May 6. The Detroit Tigers win the World Series.
WWII comes to an end on September 2.

1946
As life begins to return to normal for Michiganders after the end of the war
new drive-in construction resumes. Flint's Dort Drive-In opens, while the 
Douglas Drive-In (in Douglas) opens and closes in 1946. A new Ford costs 
about $1400, a gallon of gas is .21 cents, and a new TV costs about $350.

1947
Michigans longest running drive-in, the Hi-Way near Carsonville, opens in 1947.
 
Michigan automotive pioneer Henry Ford dies in April at the age of 83.

1948
Nearly 30 drive-ins open in 1948, a verible avalanche of new construction. New 
theatres include Flint's Westside & North Flint, Muskegon's Auto, the Waterford, 
Adrian's Hilltop & Lenawee, the Jackson, Detroit's Gratiot, Pontiac's Blue Sky,
Grand Rapids Division & Beltline, the Lansing, Ann Arbor's Ypsi-Ann, Monroe's Dixie,
Battle Creek's Auto, the Hillsdale, Bay City's Tuscola, Benton Harbor's Starlite, 
Detroit's Michigan, the Dearborn, Saginaw's Auto & Twilite, Kalamazoo's Auto, and 
the Niles. The Diamond T Ranch and the Geneva Beach both open and close in '48.

1948
The Gratiot Drive-In opens in Suburban Detroit, the Gratiot 
screen tower features the world's only drive-in waterfall.

1948
The Capitol City's first drive-in opens on the south side of town. First called simply
"Drive-In Theatre", it is later called the Lansing Drive-In. It would last until 1981.

Estimates are that by July of 1948, 350,000 TV sets are in operation in the USA.

1949
As the 1940's come to a close, another batch of new ozoners are constructed. These 
include Hubbard Lake's Paul Bunyan, St. Louis' Skytop, Saugatuck's Starlight, Rapid 
River's B & D, Marlette's H & S, Metro Detroit's Grand River, Wayne & Town, and 
Muskegon's NK, which is still open today and is now known as the Getty 4.

NEXT: 1950's