Pittsburgh, PA – “Birthplace of the Movie Theatre”

posted by jimkastner on June 13, 2005 at 7:11 am

PITTSBURGH, PA — June 19th, 2005 marks the bithplace of the movie theatre. 100 years ago, June 19th, 1905, the NICKELODEON was opened by Harry Davis and his brother-in-law, J.P. Harris. There will be an article in the weekend edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I will visit the site where it once stood; marked by a bronze plaque.

[Editor’s Note: Pittsburgh as the birthplace of the movie theatre is a highly debatable fact. There were certainly theaters showing movies (even exclusively) before Harry Davis coined the term “Nickelodeon” for his famous Pittsburgh movie house. I suspect Newcastle, PA, the site of the Warner brothers' first movie house in 1903, would have something to say about that, as would other towns in the United States and abroad.]