The Harris Theater is a landmark building at 809 Liberty Avenue in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

's Cultural District. The 200-seat theater is owned and operated by the

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT) is a nonprofit arts organization formed in 1984 to promote economic and cultural development in Downtown Pittsburgh. The "Trust" has focused its work on a 14-square block section called the Cultural District, wh ...

. Built as Art Cinema, it was the first Pittsburgh venue to show only "art movies". In the 1960s, it featured pornographic films at a time when Liberty Avenue was a

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

. The

purchased and refurbished the theater as part of its plan for the Cultural District. In 1995 it was renamed The Harris with a gift from the Buhl Foundation, in honor of

John P. Harris John Paul Harris (December 4, 1871 – January 26, 1926) was a Pittsburgh businessman and politician who opened the world's first theater devoted entirely to showing Motion pictures. Business career Harris was born on December 4, 1871 to John an ...

, who was a co-founder of the Nickelodeon—the first theater solely dedicated to the showing of motion pictures—and a Pennsylvania State Senator. The name "

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

" was coined by Harry Davis and John P. Harris, who opened their small, storefront theatre under that name on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh in June 1905. Davis and Harris found such great success that their concept of a five cent theatre running movies continuously was soon imitated by other entrepreneurs, as was the name of the theatre itself.Pittsburg Gave Birth to the Movie Theater Idea
From The Dispatch, 16 November 1919, by E. W. Lightner.

References

External links

Harris Theater homepageHarris Theatre
at Cinema Treasures Theatres in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Theatres completed in 1931 {{Pittsburgh-struct-stub