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In our humble opinion, far too few, but we turned to the Drive-In category of the Yahoo! Directory for a concrete answer. At drive-ins.com, we scanned the history section and picked up a few relevant facts: - The first drive-in theater opened in Camden, New Jersey, in June 1933.
- Around 1950 at the height of their popularity, there were about 3,775 drive-ins in the U.S.
- As of December 1997, only 815 screens remained.
While helpful, the final figure was both outdated and represented the number of screens rather than actual theaters.
So we tried a new tack and searched on "how many drive ins left." Our second search result was right on the money. A recent article from the Boston Globe, it puts the number of theaters still in operation at 432 nationwide. Though this is a far cry from the heyday of the drive-in, there is some good news -- since 1990, 37 drive-in theaters have reopened and 22 new ones were built. And last year, the number of drive-in movie screens increased by three. To find out if you are lucky enough to live within driving distance of one of those 432 theaters, use the clickable map or ZIP-code search features in the drive-ins.com database. And while you're on the site, make sure to stop by the Drive-In Boneyard, a spectacular collection of photographs of once-bustling theaters now silent and still.
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