If, in Sweetwater, you'll take the backway instead of the highway, you'll find the Midway.  A popular place in the 50s and 60s, the drive-in is now closed. At some time the "mountains" on the screen structure were painted - now more abstract than landscape.

Midway Drive-In Theatre
Photos courtesy Mike Price, December 2007

 

Midway Drive-In

Sweetwater, Texas

 

 

 

 



palace theater

The grandest sign in Spur is for the Palace Theatre located on the main street.  According to a thread on CinemaTreasures,  the theater  and sign were originally in Graham, Texas. W.J. Wilke sold the Palace Theatre to movie theater tycoon H. Server Leon in 1946 and he moved The Palace Theatre projectors, seats, screen and sign to Spur into the current theatre building. The sign was handpainted in the 1950s because restoration was too expensive. The man who handpainted this sign is in his upper 80s and currently resides in Spur (as of 2005). The sign was restored to its original colors in 2003 by ACME Sign Co. in Abilene., for the sum of $13,500.00. The theater currently needs a new roof, new plumbing and electrical rewiring.  Fund raisers have been held and special events take place, but a fairy tale ending is probably not in store for the Palace.

 

Spur, Texas

8.16.2014

the ritz

 

The Ritz Theater, located on the square, has recently been renovated.  While no longer strictly a movie theater, it is a community gathering place.  It was a backdrop in 2001 for the George Strait movie "Grand Champion."  Not only did I miss the theater -- I don't even remember the movie!  If you're a fan of the Duke, the Ritz will host a John Wayne Fest over Labor Day.

 

The Ritz

1810 26th St
Snyder, Texas
7.7.2013