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OUR HISTORY |
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Over
60 years
ago, in 1948, 18 acres of land was purchased and
construction began on what was to be known as the "La Mirada
Drive-In Theatre." At the time, the land consisted of a
dairy and an orange orchard. The area was unincorporated and
known as "Dairy Valley." This was prior to the existence of
the city of Santa Fe Springs and thus the name "La Mirada"
was chosen since that was the nearest city to this location.
In 1950, two years later, our large, single-screen theatre
first opened for business. It was one of the largest
drive-in theatres in the country, with the capacity to hold
more than 1,000 cars.
One unique aspect of the theatre design was that a large
area in front of the grounds, between the screen tower and
the front of the street, was reserved with the idea of
building walk-in theatres, restaurants, or other future
projects. There was even some speculation to build a "heli-port"
and set up a helicopter transportation service to transport
executives from La Mirada/Downey to downtown Los Angeles.
For whatever reason, this idea never quite materialized.
This was all prior to the construction of the Santa Ana
Freeway (I-5) which now runs directly south of the property.
It took 15 years for our first swap meet to see the light of
day. In 1965, the "La Mirada Swap Meet" opened for the first
time... and we've been open ever since. The dirt field in
front of the property became an ideal parking area for the
thousands of visitors who would eventually attend our swap
meet. Attendance of more than 700 daily vendors and more
than 1,500,000 customers annually has become common
throughout the years.
In 1990, with the advent of multi-plex theatres and the
general decline of drive-in movie theatre attendance,
coupled with the popularity of the swap meet, we closed down
the drive-in theatre operation (with the exception of
special events) and installed stadium lighting. Doing so
enabled us to open up the first Los Angeles area
outdoor/night-time swap meet "under the lights!"
In the early '90s we changed our name to the "Santa Fe
Springs Drive-In Theatre and Swap Meet" to more accurately
reflect the actual city where we are located.
Currently the swap meet is open five days a week...
during the day Wednesday and Thursday, Friday evening,
and during the day on Saturday & Sunday. |
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