PENNSYLVANIA — For generations of Pennsylvanians, the ultimate summer night did not involve air conditioning or reclining stadium seats. It involved packing the neighborhood kids into the back of a wood-paneled station wagon, loading up on blankets, and pulling up to a gravel spot under the stars.
It was the era of the drive-in movie theater. You would hook the heavy, crackling metal speaker to your half-rolled-down window, make a mad dash to the snack bar before the double feature started, and try to stay awake through the second film.
While hundreds of these iconic outdoor theaters across the state have long since been paved over and turned into strip malls or housing developments, Pennsylvania holds a massive, often overlooked piece of cinematic history.
Our State very first drive-in didn't just kick off a cultural phenomenon—it survived.
The Birth of a Pennsylvania Legend
The concept of the drive-in was born just across the river in Camden, New Jersey, in 1933. But Pennsylvania was right on its heels.
In April 1934, a man named Wilson Shankweiler opened Shankweiler's Drive-In Theater in Orefield, Pennsylvania (just outside of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley). It was the very first drive-in theater in the state and only the second ever built in the entire world.
In those early days, the setup was incredibly primitive. Before the invention of individual window speakers, Shankweiler mounted massive stadium speakers behind the screen. You paid your admission (which was a fraction of a dollar), parked your car on the sprawling lawn, and rolled down the windows to hear the booming audio bounce across the Lehigh Valley.
The Golden Era of the Window Speaker
By the 1950s and 60s, Shankweiler's had set the blueprint for the Pennsylvania summer. Drive-ins popped up in nearly every county, but Orefield remained the gold standard.
The theater introduced the iconic individual-pole speakers, installed a classic snack bar serving hot dogs and popcorn, and became the premier hangout spot for local teenagers and families seeking cheap, all-night entertainment. It was a place where local communities gathered, first dates happened, and summer memories were permanently etched into the minds of locals.
The Ultimate Plot Twist: It Is Still Open
Here is where the story usually takes a sad turn. By the 1980s and 90s, the rise of the VCR, the multiplex, and skyrocketing real estate values led to the mass extinction of drive-in theaters. Most "first" drive-ins across America are now completely forgotten, buried under big-box retail stores or apartment complexes.
But not Shankweiler's.
Instead of folding, the Orefield landmark adapted. Over the decades, it survived hurricanes, ownership changes, and the costly industry-wide mandate to switch to digital projectors.
Today, Shankweiler's Drive-In Theater is not just a piece of forgotten Pennsylvania history—it holds the official title of the oldest continuously operating drive-in theater in the United States. Under new, passionate ownership that took over in recent years, the theater is thriving. While the audio now plays through your car's FM radio instead of a clunky metal speaker, the magic remains the same. They still run double features, the snack bar still churns out classic movie treats, and cars still line up on Route 309 waiting for the sun to go down.
The Takeaway
If you find yourself missing the simplicity of a 1950s summer night, you do not have to rely purely on nostalgia. This weekend, you can actually load up the car, drive out to the Lehigh Valley, and park in the same spot where Pennsylvania's first drive-in moviegoers sat over 90 years ago.
