The Old Trail Drive-In was located in Baker City Oregon and opened in September of 1950. The location was described in the local newspaper, The Baker City Herald, as “Highway 30-Across from Baker Motel” (1) in 1951, and a year later its description changed to “North on U.S. 30” (2) in 1952. The Old Trail Drive-In was owned by Stan and Joanne Voeller while it was in business. There is potential that the drive-in may have had different owners/managers at some point, as there were several attempts to sell the Old Trail, but it seems like none ever went through before they closed.
Despite the drive-ins slogan being “Rain or Since it’s Old Trail Drive-In Time,” (3) they still had to operate based on seasonal weather conditions, and had to close during the winter months. They opened for the first day of the season in the spring, usually in April, and closed around the end of October. There was space for about 300 cars in the lot. The pricing of entry changed throughout the years. In the 1950’s the price was 55c for adults and 9c for kids, and a $1 per car on a family night. This was a decrease from their first couple months when they initially opened, which was $1.20 per car on family night (4). In the 60s their pricing changed to one flat rate of $2 for a car full, eliminating the price of entry per person (5), which lasted until the 70s. The last price change they had before they closed down was in the 70s and was $1.75 for adults, and children w/ parents 12 yrs and under were free. The box office opened between 7-8pm depending on the season, with the show starting at dusk.
All of the advertisements promoted that the drive-in was a place for the whole family, “For the Best in Family Entertainment Come to The Old Trail Drive-In. Box Office Opens at 8:00 the Show Starts at Dusk. Cartoon with Every Show. HUNGRY? For a real taste treat visit our Snack Bar!” (6). Family nights allowed parents to pack their car full of their kids for a cheaper price than normal. The bottle warming service made it so no one in the family had to stay home, even if you had infants (7).
The projection and concession was destroyed by a fire August 18, 1976. Even after they stopped showing movies on the grounds, they still continued to use the space for Flea Markets and a weekly outdoor dance (8,9) .
