"The pictures on your web site are indeed the Seven Pines drive-in. I recognized the place from the picture of the store. The store is still there and in use. It's had two garage bays added to the right side where an old ice house was removed. The owner's house is immediately to the right and slightly behind the store. The screen tower was immediately to the right of the owner's house. As you look at the screen picture, the store would be behind the left side of the screen. The owner's house which is still there would be directly behind the screen. The entrance to the theatre is grassed over but it's obvious where it was.
"Current owner of the property is a Mr. Bomar who bought it in 1954. He said at that time, all traces of the drive-in except the projection booth were gone. The booth still stands. It's about a 12 x 12 cinderblock building with one window on the side, a door on the other side, and no roof. It fell in about 15 years ago. A snack bar was originally beside the booth but was gone in 1954.
"The original owner/builder in 1947/48 was Mr. Pugh who also initially built and owned the Drive-In that was in Orange, Va. He sold out and moved away before 1954. When he closed the Seven Pines theatre, he sold everything to an unknown person who removed everything. The screen was a plywood screen supported by telephone poles. The buyer stripped the projection booth to the walls, even took mounting bolts from what I saw. He said the only thing still in the booth was a pipe used as conduit sticking up a few inches out of the floor. I'm told he even dug up the speaker wiring to each post and took it as well, although the current owner runs into some wiring from time to time when he is plowing his garden.
"When Mr. Bomar bought the property in 1954, there was no trace of the drive-in except the empty booth. No memorabilia were left, no pictures, no advertising, no newspaper articles, nothing, except the former employee who helped build it, and is still working there at the garage. He's never seen a picture of it.
"It was built initially without the typical speaker poles and the pictures shown are very early shots that show the original speakers beside the screen. After numerous complaints of noise from the few neighbors around, the traditional speaker posts and speakers were installed. Some of the ramps are still visible, and it appears there were six or seven of them. The picture of the screen seems to be taken from ramp 1 or 2.
"The theatre got its name from seven pine trees on the property. Three or four of them still exist." -- Joe Smith
