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Although the beginnings of the motion picture industry have been intensively studied, many details remain undisclosed. Pioneering exhibitors, entrepreneurs and traveling showmen have yet to be identified. Little-known photographers, both independently and for the first film companies, took subjects which have eluded the historical record. This paper attempts to provide some small addition to the existing body of knowledge from two perspectives. The first explores the experience of a major American city, Portland, Oregon, with motion pictures from their introduction until its first permanent film theatre was established. Portland's progression, compared to the timeline of national motion picture production, exhibition and distribution, proves largely consistent with major northeastern American cities. It introduced peepshow machines and projection within a year of the East and developed three distinct classes of audiences. Through the ups and downs of the incipient industry, Portland mirrored surges and lulls in production and public interest and also hosted instances of motion picture filming characteristic of large cities far from the homes of American film companies.
While it illustrates one city's contribution to the birth of an industry, this paper also intends to provide an outline that will help to establish the origins of Portland's motion picture theatres and film production activity. During the period from 1894 to 1906 Portland's population doubled to about 150,000, rivaled in size by Seattle and second only to San Francisco on the West coast. With access to the Pacific ocean over the Columbia River, Portland was one of the nation's leaders in shipping wheat, fruit and hops produced throughout the region. A leader in lumber manufacturing, it was the largest US lumber producer in 1906. A centre for merchants and wholesale dealers, Portland was the economic and population centre of the Pacific Northwest. Consistent with its prosperity and size, Portland cultivated a self-image of a city as modern as any on the East coast. One aspect of this urge was to remain current with the leading edge of technological and social advancement. The earliest motion pictures shown and taken in Portland were provided by an array of theatre owners, traveling showmen, small local entrepreneurs, con men, saloonkeepers, gamblers, businessmen, and civic organisations.
The progression of theatrical venues and occurrences of film production are described in chronological order...