Attendees at a drive-in movie screening at the Neptune Movie House in Long Beach.

Going to the movies in Long Beach, Washington, began in the early 1900s as a picture show in a tent.

According to the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, a theater building, complete with a sloping floor and stage, was built on Pacific Avenue in 1923. Initially known as Sunset Theater, then the Long Beach Theater, the building stood for just over 50 years before it was demolished in the 1970s.

Long Beach went without a theater for some time until the Neptune Theatre was built by the beach in the 1980s.

In 2018, the building was purchased by Kaarina Stotts. She and her son, Aarin, updated and improved the theater, now called the Neptune Movie House, which features two indoor screens.

As a response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Neptune debuted a drive-in theater, becoming one of a handful of still operating drive-in theaters in Washington state.

In addition to showing new release movies, the Neptune Movie House offers snacks with hot meals and a drink menu that includes beer and wine. Customers can also rent DVDs, purchase gift cards and apparel, and rent the theater for private events.