Drive-ins! Remember those? Swing sets, cartoon dancing tubs of popcorn telling us to get a snack, two movies, all from the comfort of your car? You might not; there are only two active drive-ins left in Massachusetts, but there was a drive-in in Dorchester for 35 years! That is the subject of this Caught in Dot History Lesson!
The Neponset Drive-In opened on September 14th, 1950! The first movies seen on its big screen were Comanche Territory, a biopic of Jim Bowie starring Maureen O’Hara, and Outside the Wall, a crime thriller! The theater had one screen and the lot could accommodate 1,350 cars.
The Neponset Drive-In was a popular spot for decades but by the 1980s it was losing its luster. To increase revenue the site was also used as the site of a flea market for a while – but by 1985, the whole thing closed down. Eventually, the Commonwealth bought the site and the multi-acre Hallet Street Dump that was next door.
Extensive work was done and on May 1st, 2001, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) opened Pope John Paul II Park. While the playground and the athletic fields are closed right now, as a result of COVID-19, it is the perfect site to take a socially distant walk, a bike ride or to go fly a kite. It is also a great place for bird watching – omething we know Maureen is into right now!
Lower End homeowner since 2005. Mom of three BPS kids. Friend to all except those who don’t clean up after their dogs and/or who put their trash out in kitchen bags (seriously, people, it’s not that hard to use a barrel). Queen of the Nerds (okay that one is only in my dreams).
It was once a potential site for a football stadium for the Patriots