The three parks would be Tilyou’s Steeplechase Park, Dundy and Thompson’s Luna Park, and lastly, Reynolds’s Dreamland. The “forgotten” park is Boyton’s Sea Lion Park. Scroll for pictures. Visit our other pages for more historical context.
Sea Lion Park
Opened July 4, 1895, Sea Lion Park is often considered the “predecessor to all modern enclosed parks.” What is meant by this is that back then rides and attractions were paid for on a ride-by-ride basis. One could not pay a single fee to access a park or a few rides. Sea Lion Park changed all that.
Steeplechase Park
In 1897 George Tilyou created what would become the most renown park in history, right up there with Disneyworld. Steeplecase Park predated Luna Park and Dreamland by 5+ years and outlasted Luna. Tilyou’s secret? Make people laugh and they will come back.
Luna Park
Frederic Thompson and Elmer ‘Skip’ Dundy, the two founders of Luna Park, were the perfect complement. The artistic and creative side of architect Thompson with the crafty business-like personality of Dundy made for a good team. The two initially met at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1898, then again at the New York World’s Fair of 1901. It was after the second meet when they decided it would be both wise and profitable to partner up. And thus was the start of a lifelong camaraderie.
Dreamland
Dreamland was built solely to compete and outrun Luna Park. Dreamland’s founder, William Reynolds, spared no expense upon the park’s design, expansion, and features. He copyrighted rights to most outstanding rides at world fairs, he offered renowned Broadway stars a cut of peanut and popcorn sales if they agreed to walk around the park all day, and even bought out some of Luna Park’s performers. Just months after Luna Park’s creation, Dreamland—or as it is originally known as, Wonderland—was set out to defeat Luna Park, amid the hype and the craze of amusement parks.
Works Cited
“History.” Luna Park in Coney Island. Central Amusement International LLC, 2014. Web. 12 May 2017.
This website not only provides extra historical context and background, but also serves as a modern day information center. I discovered that attractions such as the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone became official landmarks. In fact, the Cyclone will be 90 this year! There are a wide range of attractions other than rides such as the Mermaid Parade and modern-day Freak Shows which consist of sword-eating and flame-breathing performers.
Sullivan, David A. “The Comprehensive History of Coney Island.” Heart of Coney Island. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 May 2017.
Sullivan presented a beautifully organized array of articles depicting precisely what had occurred during which time period and how each park came to being. Sullivan also provides an array of images which further help with context. He explains that Sea Lion Park is often forgotten because it predated accessible cameras and the postcard craze of the early 1900s, which also explains his own lack of images for the park.
Images retrieved from:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/nathan-century-hot-dog-history-n-y-icon-article-1.2644796
http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/hall-of-fame/paul-boyton
http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/dreamlandfire.htm
http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/intro/picture.shtml
