Historiograph

Joe Vogel on October 21, 2026 at 7:55 pm

This house was in operation by November, 1907. That month’s issue of Up-to-the-Times magazine had an article on moving pictures which included this paragraph: “The moving picture theatres are known by many names. For instance, St. Louis has a ‘Theatorium,’ a ‘Scenic Theatre,’ a ‘Nickelodeon,’ a ‘World’s Dream,’ an ‘Orpheum,’ a ‘Historiograph,’ and numerous ‘Trips’ to everywhere, from ‘under the sea’ to Mars.”

An itinerant movie exhibition outfit called The Historiograph Company was founded in Montreal in 1897, and the founder, Marie de Kerstrat, exhibited movies in St. Louis, possibly at the World’s Fair, in 1904, and by 1907 was operating permanent movie theatres in New York. The biographical sketch of de Kerstrat" I found doesn’t say anything about her operating a theater in St. Louis, but it would be interesting if there were a connection.