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World’s First Movie Theater in Buffalo: recognized by Buffalo News November 25, 2007
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savemypass
on
November 30, 2007 at 9:45 am
BUFFALO, NY — An article in the Buffalo News claims that Vitascope Hall was the first movie theater ever.
Buffalo lays claim to the air conditioner, grain elevator, windshield wiper and pacemaker. It may be time to add another: The first motion picture theater.
Mitchell Mark and his younger brother, Moe, opened Vitascope Hall in the basement of Ellicott Square in October 1896. Moviegoers entered through the Marks' first-floor Edisonia Phonograph Parlor, an early penny arcade using inventions of Thomas Alva Edison’s factory.
“This is one of those very hazy areas of theater history. Really, no one can say with any certainty what was the very first purpose-built movie theater,” said Karen Colizzi Noonan, president of the Theatre Historical Society in Elmhurst, Ill., which records and preserves the history of America’s theaters.
Comments (1)
If I’m not mistaken, some sources claim that Pittsburgh, P.A. was the home of the first movie theater.