In-N-Out Burger history

While McDonald's, which began the same year as In-N-Out, decided to franchise in 1954, the Snyders, though inundated with franchise inquiries, remained firm.

Palm trees are a frequent motif—printed on the company’s plates, painted onto restaurant walls—a nod both to In-N-Out’s California roots and to Grandpa Snyder’s favorite movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, from 1963.

The longtime association of In-N-Out with drag racing and classic cars builds on Harry's initial 1965 investment in the development of Irwindale Drag Strip.

In-N-Out fires up the grills on New Year's Eve of 1974 at its first Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

Harry Snyder oversaw In-N-Out Burger until 1976, when he passed away from cancer.

A new In-N-Out in Ontario, California, became the chain’s first to offer inside dining in 1979, according to the company history.

Rich Snyder also established the In-N-Out University in 1983.

In-N-Out Burger became active in donating funds to the prevention of child abuse in 1986.

In the July 24, 1989, issue of Forbes, Rich Snyder stated, "It's hard enough to sell burgers, fries and drinks right.

By the time Rich Snyder readied In-N-Out Burger to venture out of the Los Angeles area and into San Diego County in 1990, he had brought the number of locations up to 55.

The first In-N-Out restaurant outside California opened in 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the company history.

On December 14, 1993, just months away from moving the corporate headquarters to Irvine, Rich Snyder was killed in a commuter plane crash.

Private CompanyEmployees: 3,700Sales: $120 million (1994)SICs: 5812 Eating Places

In-N-Out Burger was the winner, for example, in the quick-service burger division in the 1997 Restaurants & Institutions annual poll.

Guy Snyder, died of a drug overdose in 1999, whereupon Esther Snyder assumed control.

Additional Nevada restaurants in Reno, Sparks, and Carson City were opened in the fall of 2004.

After accepting only cash in its many years in business, In-N-Out began accepting Visa and MasterCard for payment on September 15, 2005, beginning at the University of California, Irvine location.

Esther Snyder, the matriarch of the founding family, subsequently held the presidency until she died August 4, 2006, aged 86.

ORG XMIT: CAAL205 In this June 8, 2010 photo, In-N-Out Burger signs, two in the foreground from the fast food chain's original location, and one in the background at a new location across the Interstate 10 freeway, fill the skyline in Baldwin Park, Calif.

She moved the company into Texas for the first time in 2011 and into Oregon four years later.

With a packed dining room, Michael White and his daughter Alexa, 4, don their caps at the new In-N-Out Burger in Rialto, at Riverside Ave. at the 210 exit on Thursday, August 29, 2013.

She shared in a 2014 Best in Business award in government reporting by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for a Financial Times A1 investigation detailing the United States government’s then-running price tag for its conflict in Afghanistan.

The Slave 2 Nothing Foundation was established in 2016 to help improve the lives of individuals and families affected by substance abuse and/or human trafficking.

Newley weds Manuel Berumen and wife Danielle Berumen celebrate their wedding with a kiss as they wait for their In-N-Out cheese burgers to be made after marring at Crestmore Manor one of Riverside County parks popular wedding rental sites Sunday in Jurupa Valley, CA. August 27, 2017.

He photographed a dozen In-N-Out Burgers in Orange County as a metaphor for Orange County.Greg Galarpe, of San Diego, cosplays as an In-N-Out worker during the San Diego Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday, July 21, 2018. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)Next

Last November, In-N-Out announced it would expand to Colorado—once it finishes building a new regional headquarters and a patty-making facility there, likely by 2020.