OC History Roundup (an excellent Orange County history blog), posted some pictures of the Crystal Cathedral’s Orange Drive-In artifact collection. Among the items on display are a pair of Koropp window speakers and a piece of the snack bar rooftop.
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For those wondering why the Crystal Cathedral would hold on to drive-in memorabilia; the church’s founder, Dr. Robert Schuller, launched his famous ministry at the Orange Drive-In. From 1955, through roughly 1960, Dr. Schuller’s Garden Grove Community Church held Sunday services at the drive-in (with Dr. Schuller conducting sermons from the snack bar rooftop). The congregation moved from their $500 drive-in rental, to a formal church, in 1961; the new site eventually growing in to the massive Crystal Cathedral complex. The Orange Drive-In wasn’t as fortunate; after closing in 1994, the site was razed for a freeway ramp and apartments in 2003.
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[…] Drive-In. Opened on June 18, 1941, the Orange enjoyed a fifty-three year run as a cinema, was the launching pad for Robert Schuller’s ministry, and hosted a popular weekend swap meet for nearly thirty years. Today, the location is little more […]