Our Visit (November 2014):
We love to take day-trips and have surprise date days. One of these took us to Assateague Island State Park and Ocean City, Maryland. As always, I saw an opportunity to visit an abandoned drive-in! In this case it was Ocean City’s Shore Drive-In Theatre, a couple miles off the island.
There was a bit of traffic, but we knew the general area of the marquee. After we parked an got out on foot to explore, I couldn’t help but think about the tourists visiting Ocean City. Hundreds – maybe more – passed the marquee covered in tangled weeds and plants without a second glance.
Red, green, and white stripes were still visible along the 2 sides of the marquee, but the rest was mere rusted metal. Where words once announced the featured films, only bars remained. Looking underneath, you can see the wires and connections that once held bright white lights to illuminate the marquee.
Beyond the marquee there was so much more to be seen! Even after almost 40 years, nature, the elements, and vandals could not completely destroy visible remnants of the drive-in.
Various building pieces remained – a wooden structure that lay crumbled on its side, the ticket booth, speaker poles with torn bases, and the screen. The screen is always my favorite piece of a drive-in that has been left behind. Their resilience amazes me.
The screen held a large lattice of wooden pieces as the backing. Larger slats of wood lay across the lattice horizontally where the movies once shone. Vines and trees intertwined with the lattice. My favorite piece of the screen was the ladder in the back, against one of the wooden poles, leading to the screen.
Everything was very overgrown, but it was manageable to navigate. As always – be careful, be considerate, and do not leave any physical imprint.
History:
The Shore Drive-In Theatre opened in 1954 and lasted for 22 years, closing in 1976. The Salisbury Times has advertisements starting in 1954 through ’76. In March of 1956, the Baltimore Sun reported that the court ruled the drive-in must be closed on Sundays.
Besides this bit of information, I could not find the owners/operators of the theatre, why it closed, or the types of movies it ran. Several people online reported that there was a flea market on the property after it closed. The property is currently for sale as a commercial property, listed for $800,000.
Shore Drive-In: 11906 Ocean Gateway, Ocean City, MD 21842
Drive-In Theater Adventures 
Hi I was able to find the names of the owners and operators. When it opened on Friday August 6th 1954 William A Carrier of Keyser, West Virginia and John S Rokisky were the first operators of the Shore Drive In along with the theatres projectionist Jack Craft. After Carrier and Rokisky had a falling out with each other Walter Gettinger acquired the theater in 1958 until it closed in September of 1976. I found this information from The Salisbury Times and Baltimore Sun Newspapers regarding the Blue Laws of 1955 stating that dance halls opera houses bowling alleys barber shops and even drive ins were not allowed to operate on Sundays after 1am but could be reopened on Sundays after 1pm. Two drive ins were subjected to the law The Shore and The Pocomoke as well as The Carlin Drive In in Baltimore on Druid Park Drive. I did visit The Shore Drive In and took numerous photos of the screen the concession stand the bathrooms and the ticket booth.