Movies may have made Hollywood, but New Jersey made movies. That is, in the world of feature films, the Garden State boasts a rich history.



Not only did America's first movie studio, Thomas Edison's Black Maria, open in New Jersey (West Orange, 1893), the first feature film in movie history, "The Great Train Robbery," was shot in Essex County in 1903. The 12-minute Edwin S. Porter film was the first of many movies to be shot on location in the Garden State; a handful of others include: "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando, shot in Hoboken in 1954; "The Amityville Horror" with James Brolin and Margot Kidder, filmed in Toms River in 1979; "The Color of Money, " starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, shot in Atlantic City in 1986 and "The Dark Knight Rises " with Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway, shot in Newark in 2012.



For more than a century New Jerseyans have flocked to see movies in ornate movie houses, outdoor drive-ins and indoor multiplexes.



Deal resident Walter Reade Sr.'s chain of theaters grew from a single venue in Asbury Park in 1921 to more than 40 movie houses and drive-ins in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts that lasted into the mid-1970s. The Brandt and Loews chains also operated in New Jersey as well as theaters that were managed by Hollywood studios including RKO and Paramount Pictures.



At the height of the popularity of the drive-in, more than 40 such theaters were in operation in New Jersey. When the first drive-in opened in Camden, on Admiral Wilson Boulevard, sound came from large speakers mounted next to the screen ; it wasn't until 1941 when New Jersey-based RCA solved the sound problem by developing speakers that could be mounted to cars with individual volume controls.

Here's a look back at some of the venues that made movies memorable in the Garden State.