Edison's Black Maria

Construction of the building, which included a tar-paper-covered dark studio room with a retractable roof, began in December 1892[3] and was completed the following year at a cost of $637.67 ($21,624 in 2023 dollars).

In early May 1893 at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Edison conducted the world's first public demonstration of films shot using the Kinetograph in the Black Maria, with a Kinetoscope viewer.

Many of the early Edison moving images released after 1895, however, were non-fictional "actualities" filmed on location: views of ordinary slices of life – street scenes, the activities of police or firemen, or shots of a passing train.

Nearly 500 people became cinema's first major audience during the showings of films with titles such as Barber Shop, Blacksmiths, Cock Fight, Wrestling, and Trapeze.

It was built on a turntable so the window could rotate toward the sun throughout the day, supplying natural light for hundreds of Edison movie productions over its eight-year lifespan.

The Black Maria fell into disuse when film productions moved to New York, and the Edison company dismantled the studio in 1903.

[6] In 2022 the National Park Service embarked on a two-year rehabilitation of the structure, involving extensive repairs, a new exterior, and an accessible ramp.