<P> The earliest documented account of an exhibition of projected motion pictures in the United States was in June 1894 in Richmond , Indiana by Charles Francis Jenkins . Jenkins used his Phantoscope to project his film before an audience of family , friends and reporters . The film featured a vaudeville dancer performing a Butterfly Dance . Jenkins and his new partner Thomas Armat modified the Phantoscope for exhibitions in temporary theaters at the Cotton States Exposition in the fall of 1895 . The Phantoscope was later sold to Thomas Edison , who changed the name of the projector to Edison 's Vitascope . With the Vitascope , Edison began public showings of his films at Koster and Bial 's Music Hall on 34th Street in New York City on April 23 , 1896 . However , the first `` storefront theater '' in the US dedicated exclusively to showing motion pictures was Vitascope Hall , established on Canal Street , New Orleans , Louisiana July 26 , 1896 -- it was converted from a vacant store . </P>
<P> The earliest documented account of an exhibition of projected motion pictures in the United States was in June 1894 in Richmond , Indiana by Charles Francis Jenkins . Jenkins used his Phantoscope to project his film before an audience of family , friends and reporters . The film featured a vaudeville dancer performing a Butterfly Dance . Jenkins and his new partner Thomas Armat modified the Phantoscope for exhibitions in temporary theaters at the Cotton States Exposition in the fall of 1895 . The Phantoscope was later sold to Thomas Edison , who changed the name of the projector to Edison 's Vitascope . With the Vitascope , Edison began public showings of his films at Koster and Bial 's Music Hall on 34th Street in New York City on April 23 , 1896 . However , the first `` storefront theater '' in the US dedicated exclusively to showing motion pictures was Vitascope Hall , established on Canal Street , New Orleans , Louisiana July 26 , 1896 -- it was converted from a vacant store . </P>
where was the first permanent theater dedicated solely to screening films located
where was the first permanent theater dedicated solely to screening films located
Vitascope Hall , established on Canal Street , New Orleans , Louisiana
Vitascope Hall , established on Canal Street , New Orleans , Louisiana