Dreamland was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1904 to 1911. It was the last of the three original large parks built on Coney Island, along with Steeplechase Park and Luna Park. The park was between Surf Avenue to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It was arranged roughly as a horseshoe, with a pier facing south toward the Atlantic Ocean. Dreamland contained several attractions that were larger versions of those at Luna Park, and it included a human zoo, several early roller coasters, a Shoot the Chutes ride, and a replica of Venice. Dreamland also hosted entertainment and dramatic spectacles based on morality themes. Several structures, such as the Pompeiian, Electricity, and Submarine Boat buildings, were dedicated to exhibits.
Former state senator William H. Reynolds announced plans in July 1903 for an amusement park rivaling Luna Park, originally known as the Hippodrome. The Dreamland Company started constructing the park in December 1903, and the park opened as Dreamland on May 15, 1904. The park operated between May and September of each year, and Reynolds constantly changed Dreamland's shows and attractions every season. Coney Island had reached its peak popularity by the late 1900s, but Dreamland struggled to compete with Luna Park, which was better managed.
During the early morning of May 27, 1911, just after the start of Dreamland's eighth season, a worker kicked over a bucket of hot pitch, starting a fire that spread through the park's wooden buildings. Firefighters were unable to control the fire because of low water pressure; nearly all of the structures were quickly destroyed, although no one was killed. The site's northern portion, on Surf Avenue, was quickly redeveloped with various concessions. The New York City government acquired the southern portion through condemnation in 1912, but disputes over compensation continued for eight years. The site became a parking lot in 1921 and was redeveloped as a recreation center in 1935; the New York Aquarium was eventually built on the site in 1957.
Development Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. Sea Lion Park opened in 1895 and was Coney Island's first amusement area to charge entry fees; this in turn spurred the construction of George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park in 1897, the neighborhood's first major amusement park. Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy opened Luna Park, Coney Island's second major amusement park, in 1903 on the site of Sea Lion Park, which had closed the previous year. William H. Reynolds, a former state senator and successful Brooklyn real estate developer, decided to construct Dreamland following the success of Luna Park. He intended for Dreamland to compete with Luna Park. Dreamland was supposed to be refined and elegant in its design and architecture, compared to Luna Park with its many rides and chaotic noise. Reynolds announced plans in July 1903 for an amusement park rivaling Luna Park, which was to be built in a style resembling London's Hippodrome. According to local media, he reportedly paid $180,000 for a pier on the Coney Island Beach, as well as $447,500 for two parcels at Surf Avenue and West Eighth Street, measuring deep and wide. The Times Union subsequently said that the purchase prices for the site were not correct. The Surf Avenue parcels had belonged to John Y. McKane, who had operated a bathing house on the site. Previously, the parcels had also included the Coney Island Athletic Club's arena and the Culver Depot, the then-terminal of what is now the New York City Subway's Brighton and Culver lines. Although C. L. Turnbull and P. I. Thompson were nominally the buyers, they acted as proxies for Reynolds, allowing him to acquire the Surf Avenue site at a discount of more than $50,000. Once Reynolds acquired the site, he made a deal with the New York City Board of Estimate to demap West Eighth Street, which separated McKane's parcels from each other. The street, which had taken up one-sixth of the proposed park's width, contained a trolley terminal that needed to be relocated.
Originally, the park was supposed to be known as the Hippodrome. In August 1903, Reynolds and several other men established the Wonderland Company, which had a capitalization of $1.2 million and existed specifically to develop an amusement park on the site. The amusement pier was planned to contain a dance hall and bathing pavilion, while the main portion of the site would be arranged around a large tower that would overtop Luna Park's. The company took title to the plots in September 1903 and received a $200,000 mortgage loan from the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. The Edison Company was hired to manufacture the park's lights in late 1903; the new park was expected to have more electric lights than had existed on all of Coney Island during the preceding season.
Construction of the park itself began in December 1903. General contractor Edward Johnson Company employed about 2,000 workers, who were employed in three shifts of eight hours each. The park was known as Dreamland by January 1904. Reynolds, wishing to surpass Luna Park by every metric, reportedly spent $3.5 million on Dreamland. Dreamland had one million lights, compared to 250,000 lights at Luna Park; even Dreamland's firefighting show was more elaborate than that at Luna Park. Dreamland also planned to differentiate itself from Luna Park by adding novel attractions, as well as operating a private beach and bath house (something that Luna Park lacked because of its inland location). Samuel W. Gumpertz was among those who helped develop the park.
Operation
1904 to 1907
Dreamland opened on May 15, 1904, with a fire show that employed 4,000 performers. The park was $1.9 million in debt, more than the entire amount invested in the competing Luna Park. Dreamland charged 10 cents for admission on weekdays and 15 cents on weekends, plus an additional fee of up to 25 cents for individual rides. The park closed for the season on September 24, 1904. Reynolds said Dreamland had recorded a $400,000 net profit during the operating season, despite erroneous reports that the park had been placed in receivership. Although the Leapfrog Railway roller coaster was completed with the rest of the park, it did not open until the 1905 season.
Reynolds spent $500,000 on new attractions and shows ahead of the 1905 season, which ran from May 13 to September 24. Among these was a show based on the Creation myth, which had been exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition; this attraction alone cost $250,000. The park also added an exhibition of a Roman hippodrome around the lagoon; replaced the submarine ride with the Hell Gate boat ride; and added a Japanese-themed theater. City officials temporarily closed Dreamland's pier in May 1905, citing the fact that the pier was too narrow to accommodate crowds.
Many of the park's shows were replaced for the 1906 season, and park officials also rebuilt the pier. The new attractions for that season included a reenactment of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake's aftermath; a Moqui Indian village; a rebuilt Creation show; and the Touring New York car show. The park opened for the 1906 season on May 20, and it began hosting vaudeville shows for the first time that June. Dreamland's third season ended on September 24, 1906. Prior to the 1907 season, concessionaire William Ellis introduced an attraction called the Orient, anchored by a theater that presented several shows. Park officials also built a new administration building and installed other shows. Park officials gave $50 to the first guest of the season on May 18, 1907, and the park operated through September 21 of that year. At this point, the park hosted several shows that were based on themes of morality, such as "The End of the World" and the "Feast of Beshazzar and the Destruction of Babylon".
1908 to 1911
Coney Island had reached its peak popularity by the late 1900s, when millions of people visited the neighborhood every year. Despite its many amusements, Dreamland struggled to compete with the better-managed Luna Park. As such, for the 1908 season, the park's management decided to offer free admission during weekdays; although the free-admission policy did not extend to individual rides, the policy still attracted visitors. The park opened for the season on May 23, 1908, and operated until September 20. For this season, Ellis added an auditorium with more than one thousand seats, and the park also added shows such as Freak Street, the Moroccan Jugglers, and an Old Virginia show. Following the 1908 season, Dreamland hired Wells Hawks of the New York Hippodrome to lead the publicity bureau, and they hired Gumpertz as the general manager.
Prior to the 1909 season, four thousand workmen completely revamped the park's attractions. The ballroom was expanded to accommodate 1,500 couples. Other additions included a wisteria garden on the site of the former hippodrome track, a circus ring near the tower, a scenic railway roller coaster, a Deep Sea Divers attraction, and a village of Filipinos. The park's operators said "everything at Dreamland will be new but the ocean". The park's sixth season began on May 15, 1909, and ended on September 19. That year, New York City mayor George B. McClellan Jr. attempted to prevent the park from staging live shows on Sundays, citing the city's blue laws, although Reynolds strongly opposed the legislation. Dreamland had previously held a license permitting it to present shows seven days a week. When the license was renewed in June 1909, the shows were allowed only six days a week. Gumpertz said the city government took issue with Dreamland's circus, which was free of charge. City officials also objected to the Filipino villagers' attire, which exposed their legs.
Kings County sheriff Patrick H. Quinn announced in February 1910 that the park would be auctioned off on behalf of Eugene Wood and Joseph Huber, the corporation's two largest bondholders, who wanted to reorganize the company. The auction only involved a nominal change of ownership, as Huber and Wood bought the park the next month. Dreamland's seventh season began on May 14, 1910, and ran until September 18. Among the new attractions for the 1910 season were Alligator Joe's alligator and crocodile farm, a Bornean village, and a renovation of the park's scenic railway called Trip to the North Pole.In preparation for Dreamland's 1911 season, its operators made additional changes. For instance, the buildings were repainted in white and red, and the structures near the Surf Avenue entrance were demolished to make way for a lighting plant with 130,000 additional light bulbs. Various rides such as the Great Divide, Canals of Venice, Tub Ride, and Hell Gate were enlarged, while the ballroom and restaurant had been relocated from the pier to near the Surf Avenue entrance. The site of the old ballroom was converted to a skating rink, and the bathing pavilion on the ocean was expanded significantly. The park added thirty new shows, such as Joseph Ferari's animal show, a biblical show known as the Sacrifice, and a village of "human curiosities". It also added a miniature subway around the park, a carousel, and a dual-tracked roller coaster. Some existing attractions were retained, such as Bostock's Wild Animals, which included a dwarf elephant named Little Hip and a one-armed lion tamer known as Captain Jack Bonavita. Dreamland also hired Omar Sami as a carnival barker for the 1911 season, and the park opened for its eighth season on May 20, 1911.
Destruction Fire