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Exterior of Black Maria, Thomas Edison National Historic Site, West Orange, New Jersey

The oddest structure at the Site is the Black Maria (ma-Riy-uh), a 1954 replica faithful in size, shape, and appearance to the original completed in 1893. The Black Maria, named for its resemblance to contemporary police vehicles, was the first structure designed specifically to be a motion picture studio. The odd shape enabled Edison's employees to open the roof and rotate the building to keep sunlight on the stage while filming. Hundreds of short films, ranging in length from a few seconds to two minutes, were made in the "revolving photographic studio" before Edison moved film production to New York and took down the original structure in 1903.

National Park Service

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Public domain

American history, ()
, History of invention and technology, ()
, Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931, ()

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Thomas Edison National Historical Park, Code: EDIS

West Orange ; Black Maria, Thomas Edison National Historical Park, Essex County, New Jersey
Latitude: 40.7859992980957, Longitude: -74.2397994995117

Legacy NPS Focus Record ID : 231523

NPS Office of Communications and Public Affairs Photo Library

Title: NPS Office of Communications and Public Affairs Photo Library
URL: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/imagebase.html

01/13/2003

01/01/1980 - 12/30/1999

Public Can View

NPS staff

Thomas Edison National Historic Site

Administrator

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 6:26:10 PM

Thursday, August 10, 2017 2:09:17 AM

edis_blackmaria_4381.jpg

Monday, January 1, 0001 12:00:00 AM

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