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By Laurie Lewis  When Henry Hudson made his historic 1609 voyage on the Half Moon, he came upon an island hopping with rabbits. Intent on finding a water route from Europe to the Far East, Hudson continued to a river that would later bear his name. The island probably got its name from a term for the four-legged inhabitants. Coney Island, which like other islands of New York City was later joined to land to create a peninsula, saw its first development in 1829 with the opening of a posh seaside resort. After the Civil War, the once-rural area of Brooklyn became a summer getaway for middle-class New Yorkers wanting to escape the city heat. Charles Feltman had plenty of customers in 1867 when he created the hot dog, served on a bun to avoid dealing with plates and utensils. Revenue from his hot dog stand was so good that Feltman was soon able to open a restaurant. Over subsequent decades, Feltman expanded his property to include multiple eating venues and an entertainment complex with a roller coaster and carousel. That fit perfectly with the late–nineteenth- and early–twentieth-century identity of Coney Island. It boasted several luxury resorts (although the finest were at nearby Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach) and other hotels for people of modest means. Several railroads and later the subway, as well as steamboats, took city residents to the seaside retreat, whether for a day or for a longer summer vacation. Coney Island had something for everyone: swimming in the ocean, relaxing on the beach, eating at the variety of restaurants, attending performances, and enjoying the amusement parks.  The beach at Coney Island in the early 1900s Before Coney Island’s amusement park era, isolated rides there offered a taste of the thrill associated with this form of entertainment. The 300-foot Iron Tower observatory, relocated in 1877 from the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, provided panoramic views. In 1884, LaMarcus Thompson introduced the world to the roller coaster. Although freestanding rides like these continued to draw adventurers to Coney Island---the giant Wonder Wheel debuted in 1920 and the Cyclone roller coaster in 1927, and both are still popular today---Sea Lion Park offered a new concept for this type of amusement starting in 1895.  Sea Lion Park brought together several rides, sideshows, and other diversions in the first enclosed amusement park. Rather than pay separately for individual attractions, visitors to Sea Lion Park paid a single entrance fee. The complex featured a water ride called Shoot the Chutes, the world’s first looping roller coaster, and shows starring the creatures that gave the park its name. Initially a successful venture, competition and a rainy 1902 summer spelled doom for Sea Lion Park. In 1897, just two years after Sea Lion Park demonstrated the validity of an enclosed amusement park model, it faced competition from Steeplechase Park. Rebuilt after a fire in 1907, Steeplechase remained operational for almost seventy years, longer than any other amusement park in Coney Island. Its success was partially due to indoor attractions that kept revenue coming even in poor weather conditions. The Steeplechase fire was the first of several conflagrations that plagued the great amusement parks of Coney Island. Dreamland, created in 1904, was destroyed by fire just seven years later. Luna Park, which took over and expanded Sea Lion Park, opened in 1903 and ended its run after a 1944 fire. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the amusement park began a new life in 2010 when it resurfaced as Luna Park in Coney Island. In 1923, construction of a boardwalk connected many of the attractions and offered easy access to the beach. The boardwalk helped Coney Island come back to life after its mid-century decline. The New York Aquarium relocated there from Manhattan in 1957. Today, residents of the former Soviet Union and their families who settled in Brighton Beach, one terminus of the boardwalk, stroll along it in all kinds of weather. At the other end of the boardwalk on the site of the former Steeplechase Park is Maimonides Park---not an amusement park but a sports field, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team and soon to be a major soccer venue.  The 2.7-mile Riegelmann Boardwalk borders both the amusements and the beach of Coney Island. Several annual events draw crowds to Coney Island in the summer. Since 1983, the Mermaid Parade, Coney Island’s risque answer to Mardi Gras, occurs on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice. Nathan’s hot dog eating contest, taking place on the Fourth of July since 1972, attracts throngs of spectators for the ten-minute eating frenzy. This coming Saturday, August 17, is the thirty-second annual Coney Island sand sculpture contest. Almost 50,000 New Yorkers live in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn. The area swells in the summertime as other residents of the five boroughs flock to the beach and the rides that made Coney Island famous or come for the special events. There is still time to join them before this summer ends.
Tours
We are no longer scheduling public tours that are open to anyone, but we are available for private tours. If you would like ideas for private tours, please see the Tours section of this website. Comments are closed.
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