Shankweiler’s, nation’s oldest operating drive-in theater, is now sold
The nation’s oldest operating drive-in movie theater — Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theater in North Whitehall Township — has changed hands.
The legendary drive-in is now owned by Matthew McClanahan and Lauren McChesney, who own and operate The Moving Picture Cinema. Their company is a mobile movie theater featuring large format projection display.
“We are beyond excited to announce that we are the new owners, operators, and caretakers of a Lehigh Valley cinematic institution!” reads a post on The Moving Picture Cinema’s Facebook page. “It has long been our goal at TMPC to sink down roots into a permanent space and cultivate our own creative projects as we continue to engage in diverse programming and partnerships all across Pennsylvania. We couldn’t be more honored to take the reins of this legendary theater, and we are so excited for what the future holds. See you (very soon) at the movies!”
In 1934, Wilson Shankweiler, a prominent hotel owner and movie fan, opened the drive-in, which was the Keystone State’s first. Originally called “Shankweiler’s Park-In Theatre,” Shankweiler’s Drive-In was the second drive-in theatre to open in America.
At the height of drive-in theaters’ popularity, in the 1950s and ’60s, there were some 4,000 drive-ins in the United States. Pennsylvania has 29 remaining drive-in movie theaters, giving it the distinction of being the state with the second highest number of remaining, operating drive-ins, second only to New York.