The Auto Drive-In Movie Theater began as a one-screen movie theater in 1945. While it has not been in constant use, the current owners purchased the theater and reopened it in 2009. Since then, they’ve been able to add more screens and make other renovations.
You can read the full history of the theater on their website.
The Del-Mar Motel opened on September 30, 1956, and was owned by Mr. and Mrs. David Steigman.
Located in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Historic District, the Prince Hall Masonic Temple is a major site within the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park and one of the city’s most significant historic buildings. Built in 1937 with a 1941 addition, the Renaissance Revival–style building was funded by John Wesley Dobbs and designed by Charles Hopson and Ross Howard as a meeting place for the Prince Hall Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star.
In 1957, the building became the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. following the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. King’s office and the SCLC operated on the first floor, with staff including Ella Baker, Andrew Young, and Dorothy Cotton. After Dr. King’s assassination, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy continued SCLC leadership here. The second floor housed WERD, the nation’s first Black-owned radio station.
Fully restored by Lord Aeck Sargent, the building continues to serve the SCLC. It has been renovated into approximately 16,000 square feet of multi-use space, with the National Park Service sharing educational exhibits on the first floor. Local businesses will occupy the upper levels while the Masons will continue to use the space on the 3rd Floor.
On the corner of S. Pine and E. Henry Streets in Spartanburg, South Carolina, there sits the Sugar-n-Spice Drive-In restaurant. Opened in 1961 by Pete Copses and John Stathakis, the restaurant became a local favorite known for its souvlaki.
The restaurant began with drive-in and counter service. In the 1970s, a renovation added a sit-down restaurant and removed the drive-in option.
The restaurant is still very popular. Over the years, as I have grown to appreciate mid-century architecture, it took me many tries on visits to my hometownto catch the parking lot empty with good light.
In downtown Birmingham, a recently restored Greyhound Bus Station serves as a reminder of Greyhound’s heyday. Built in 1952 by William Strudwick Arrasmith, noted for his designs of Greyhound Bus Stations, the Streamline Moderne building was one of the many bus stations that the Freedom Riders passed through to force bus desegregation.
The station was a key location for the civil rights movement. On May 14, 1961, two buses left Atlanta, Georgia, bound for New Orleans. White supremacists attacked the civil rights activists and slashed one bus’s tires. The driver was able to leave, but the mob stopped the bus and threw a firebomb into it. When the second bus arrived in Birmingham, they were greeted by Ku Klux Klansmen who had been tipped off by Police Commissioner Bull Conner, who told them they had fifteen minutes where they could freely attack the Freedom Riders.
After Greyhound moved operations in 2017, the building sat vacant until it was recently restored. The restoration uncovered many hidden mid-century details that can be seen today, like the bus marquee and the iconic silver greyhound.
The Majestic Diner opened in 1929 on Ponce de Leon Avenue. It was once a 24-hour staple. In response to the pandemic, the diner had to shorten its hours and is now open daily for breakfast and lunch; however, it is still operating, thankfully.
