Thomas Tally – First Movie Theatre?

Today in 1902 Thomas Tally reportedly opened the first permanent movie theatre in the USA on S Main, Los Angeles. Although movies had been shown prior to this date, Tally had been operating in Los Angeles since 1896, this was the first time they had been shown in a building dedicated to showing movies.
Tally’s claim to the first dedicated movie theatre has been challenged as some researchers say records show that a dedicated movie theatre had existed in both New York and Buffalo since 1896.

In 1912 he was the first exhibitor to show a colour film in Los Angeles. Tally was also involved in an early organisation distributing films between exhibitors in major American cities.