Drive in movie theaters first appeared in the US in the early 20th century. Spurred by the growth of the automobile and film industries, drive-ins quickly became an icon of American entertainment.
The first drive-in in the US opened in New Jersey in 1933. Twenty years later there were 4000 drive-ins throughout the country, mostly in rural areas.
Florence followed the national trend.
The earliest drive-ins in Florence were owned and operated by Kenneth E. Benson and Mr. Stanley Benson of Florence.
From July of 1946 to August of 1948, the brothers ran a small outdoor theater located at the Pee Dee fairgrounds, “… on the Darlington Highway (Lucas St), just west of Young Pecan Co.(now Seminar Brewing Co)”. This was Florence’s first drive-in.
In his book “Remembering Florence”, former Morning News editor Thom Anderson recalls that cars pulled in to a large pasture-like area beside the fairgrounds, and that the films’ audio was played through large speakers mounted on top of the screen, which faced the highway. The audio was often hard to hear over the sound of trains which frequently came down the tracks on the other side of the road.
The “Florence Drive-In” was open most of the year, but closed for one week in the fall, when the fair came to town and overtook the fair grounds.
The Bensons ran Ace Camera Supply on Evans St. in Florence. In the mid-1940s drive-ins were a growing trend and the Bensons saw potential profit in it. Old news articles suggest that the Bensons may have been inspired to open their own drive-in after supplying camera equipment to a growing number of other theaters in the region.
The theater was popular, but the fairgrounds were getting too small for the fair and the large crowds it attracted. The city of Florence campaigned to purchase a larger property east of the old Army Air Base to be used as the new fairgrounds. In the spring of ’48 the brothers decided to discontinue the fairgrounds theater and open a new drive-in on the other side of town. This drive-in was known as the “Ace”.
Ace Drive-In ad
Florence Morning News
July 2, 1946
page 10
Ace Drive-In ad
Florence Morning News
July 4, 1946
page 8
Ace Drive-In ad
Florence Morning News
July 6, 1946
page 8
Early advertisements for the Ace describe its location as “2 miles from five points” on hwy 76. This corresponds exactly with the point at which Celebration Blvd. now intersects with West Palmetto St. However, in 1980, Thom Anderson wrote “…the Ace Drive-In opened on the Timmonsville Highway near where the old T’ville Highway meets the new one.”
Cale Yarborough, Florence County NASCAR legend, remembers the Ace Drive-In. “We used to go to it all the time when we were teenagers,” Yarborough said. He recalls that it was located west of the present site of Cale Yarborough Honda car dealership, but on the opposite side of the road.
Because this was an undeveloped rural area outside of the city limits at the time, there was no street address for the business, and it is not listed in any of the Florence City directories.
A review of property records at the county clerk’s office reveals that in April 1948, just four months before opening the Ace, the Bensons purchased 17 acres between US 76 and, “the old Timmonsville-Florence paved highway.” The deed corresponds to a plat which outlines the majority of land west of the current CVS pharmacy to the point where South Cashua meets West Palmetto St.
This was the location of the Ace Drive-In Theatre.
Ace Drive-In between US 76 and “the old Timmonsville-Florence paved highway"
Ace Drive-In showed the same Hollywood studio films that you could see at the house theaters in town, although often several months after the initial distribution. The theater’s grand opening feature was family-friendly 1947 box-office hit “Variety Girl”, a musical comedy with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and an all-star supporting cast.
Admission at the Ace was 25 cents. Like the fairgrounds theater, the Ace played its audio through a “central speaker system”. They later upgraded to portable small box speakers that could be mounted to a car’s window.
Like many other drive-ins, there was an all-in-one concession stand and projector booth in the center of the lot. The screen was covered in aluminum panels to mimic the reflective properties of indoor “silver” cinema screens.
Mrs. Jean King of Hartsville lived behind the theater as a little girl and remembers the old drive-in well. According to King, the entrance to the theater lot was on Palmetto St. Tickets were purchased from a booth close to the road, after which you pulled your car into the parking field. King said the screen was angled toward Cashua. Although drivers on highway 76 would only see the back of the movie screen, she could see the movies from her back yard (but not hear them).
She also remembered that theater proprietor Stanley Benson lived in a brick house next to the property.
The theater was known as the “Ace” until March of 1952, when the Benson brothers decided to change its name to the “Bright Leaf Drive-In”.
By that time, two new outdoor theaters had opened closer to Florence. The old Ace theater it seems could not keep up with the competition. After 11 years in operation, The Ace / Bright Leaf theatre closed in October of 1959.
In spite of the fact that the Benson family ran a camera shop, there are no known photographs of Ace / Bright Leaf Drive-In. Today the only remaining remnants of the Benson family’s connection to the land formerly occupied by the theater are Benson St. (between Cashua and Palmetto) and Stanley Dr., which connects Palmetto St. to W. Forest Lake Drive.
