Waukegan and the Motion Picture Industry-- Part 1: Edison, Dickson and the Beginning of the Motion Picture Industry

The Fox Lake / Grant Township Historical Society then had our presentation, which today was on Waukegan and its role in the early motion picture industry.    Our presenter was Ty Rohrer of the Waukegan History Museum.

Had things worked out differently, who knows, maybe Lake County and Waukegan might have become "Hollywood" instead of out in California.

When people think of Waukegan and movies, they think of Jack Benny and the Famous Genesee Theater.  But, there is a whole lot more to the story.

Thomas Edison is given credit for the invention of the movie camera, but it was actually William Kennedy Dickson, in Edison's employ, who was the major force in its development.  He invented the kinetoscope.  Part of the reason for this was to see if all four of a horses' hooves came off the ground at the same time while in a gallop.

The kinetoscope was essentially a peep machine in which one person at a time could view it. But, that made it hard to make money with just at a time viewing it. It had to become larger.

--Cooter