Steeplechase Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1897 to 1964. Steeplechase Park was created by the entrepreneur George C. Tilyou as the first of the three large amusement parks built on Coney Island, the other two being Luna Park (1903–1944) and Dreamland (1904–1911). Of the three, Steeplechase was the longest-lasting, running for 67 years.
The park covered at its peak. Its first rides were standalone attractions scattered around Coney Island that Tilyou had purchased in the early 1890s. Steeplechase itself opened in 1897 to unite these formerly separate attractions, and quickly gained popularity as a family-friendly destination with exhibitionist and risque undertones. It was destroyed by fire in 1907, but was quickly rebuilt. Steeplechase remained profitable as the Tilyou family continually brought in new rides and new amusements, such as the Parachute Jump. However, by the 1960s Steeplechase Park was becoming unprofitable due to high crime, the growth of suburban getaways, and the area's general trend toward residential development.
After the park closed in 1964, developer Fred Trump purchased the land and planned to develop it for residential use, but this never occurred, and the site was used seasonally for amusement rides during the 1970s. A dispute ensued over the proposed use of the Steeplechase Park site in the 1980s and 1990s, as two developers disagreed over whether to rebuild the amusement park or build a sports complex on the site. A minor-league baseball stadium called Keyspan Park (now Maimonides Park) was built in 2001.
The Parachute Jump is the only remaining portion of the former amusement park. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the land under Maimonides Park as part of a green space also called Steeplechase Park. Steeplechase Plaza, a portion of Luna Park (2010) that contains the B&B Carousell, was named in homage to the former Steeplechase Park.
History Steeplechase was created by George C. Tilyou (1862–1914). On his honeymoon in 1893, he and his wife visited the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where he saw the Ferris wheel and wanted to buy it. Since the wheel had already been sold, Tilyou built his own half-size version at Surf Avenue, on Coney Island, which soon became Coney Island's biggest attraction. After noting that the nearby Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend and Brighton Beach horseracing tracks were very popular, Tilyou added other rides and attractions on the Coney Island peninsula. He came to own several rides, though none were part of a single park. In fact, until the opening of Paul Boyton's Sea Lion Park nearby in 1895, all of Coney Island's rides were separately operated. As a result, Tilyou's concessions were originally overshadowed by the saloons on nearby Bowery Street.
1897–1907: Creation and early years
Steeplechase Park opened in 1897 after Tilyou bought and improved the Steeplechase Horses attraction. Steeplechase Horses, manufactured by J.W. Cawdry, featured gravity-pulled mechanical horses racing along metal tracks. The park covered , an area of which Tilyou owned two-thirds outright; the other third was leased from the Huber family. It was located at the western end of Bowery Street. Steeplechase was approached by a grand stone archway on Surf Avenue to the north, the top of the archway decorated by four stone horses. The inclusion of a gateway, along with a new 25-cent admission charge, were intended to exclude the "seedier elements" and make the park a family destination. Drinking was prohibited, as was gambling and prostitution.
The park included over 50 attractions on its midway alone. Attractions included novelties such as the Human Niagara, a Venetian gondola-style ride, the Aerial Racing Slide, the Double-Dip Chutes, the Bicycle Railway, a "French Voyage" panorama, and a Wild West sideshow. Tilyou also operated a small steam railroad, a saltwater pool, a ballroom, and the Scenic Railroad coaster by LaMarcus Thompson. Completing the park were scale models of world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. Steeplechase Pier, a pier jutting into the ocean, was built to the south of the park in 1904. Tilyou adopted a "Funny Face" mascot depicting a smiling man with several dozen teeth, nicknamed "the Tilly", as the icon for his park. The mascot, which became a symbol of Coney Island, represented the area's wholesomeness and neoclassical architecture combined with its veneer of hidden sexuality. Tilyou's personal motto, "Keep 'em laughing", was symbolized by rides with such unconventional names as Whirlpool, Soup Bowl, Human Roulette, Human Pool Table, and Earthquake Staircase.
In 1901, Tilyou visited the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York, to find additional rides for Steeplechase Park. He approached Frederic Thompson (no relation to LaMarcus) and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, the creators of the popular A Trip To The Moon ride, to ask if they would bring their ride to Steeplechase. The ride, an indoor dark ride that simulated a space flight, had been popular in the exposition, and Thompson and Dundy signed an agreement to relocate it to Steeplechase for a year. However, a rainy 1902 season reduced the profits of amusement park operators at Coney Island that year and forced the closure of the adjacent Sea Lion Park. Thompson and Dundy spent $700,000 rebuilding Sea Lion and moved Trip to the Moon to the newly expanded park, now called Luna Park, in 1903.
Following Luna Park's success, another amusement park on Coney Island, Dreamland, opened in 1904. At Coney Island's peak in the middle of the 20th century's first decade, the three amusement parks competed with each other and with many independent amusements. This was attributed partially to the variety of transit options available: by 1904, there were five railroads to Coney Island. Both Luna Park and Dreamland had more expensive attractions than Steeplechase Park. Tilyou countered this by modifying and adding contraptions for his customers, most of which carried an exhibitionist and risque undertone but were nonetheless popular. The entrance contained the Barrel of Fun, a revolving drum that threw visitors onto each other. Other contraptions included the Human Roulette Wheel, Earthquake Stairway, Dew Drop, Whichway, and Wedding Ring. All of these rides tossed riders around, often on top of each other, as they were designed under the assumption that men and women wanted any excuses to grab onto each other.
The success of Steeplechase and other parks in Coney Island inspired Tilyou to create additional amusement parks in the New York City area and elsewhere. In November 1904, Tilyou announced that he would sell Steeplechase Park to a syndicate of investors for $1.25 million, since he wanted to operate another amusement park in Rockaway, Queens. However, the sale of Steeplechase was annulled in February 1905 after $50,000 had been paid, since "defective titles" prevented the syndicate from purchasing some of the land under the park. From 1905 to 1907, Tilyou refined Steeplechase Park with attractions such as a miniature railroad, an orchestra stand, the Cave of the Winds, a Fads and Fantasy Building, the Limit Building, and a children's pony track. The Limit Building was short-lived, being replaced by the Monte Carlo Building in 1907.
1907 fire and rebuilding In the early morning of July 29, 1907, a fire started in the Cave of the Winds attraction. It spread quickly, destroying most of the wooden pavilions and hotels around Bowery Street; firefighters fought to save Tilyou's house at the corner of Steeplechase Park. The three-alarm fire was extinguished after two hours, but about of Coney Island was destroyed. Steeplechase Park bore much of the damage, which was estimated at $1.5 million, but several hotels were also ruined. Even though the fire destroyed nearly everything within Steeplechase Park, Tilyou reportedly remained calm throughout, even promising to host events that had been planned in the park before the fire. The morning after the fire, Tilyou posted a sign in front of the park, which read: To My Friends: I have troubles today that I had not yesterday. I had troubles yesterday which I have not today. On this site will be built a bigger, better, Steeplechase Park. Admission to the burning ruins — Ten cents.Tilyou stated that the park would be restored to a "grander than ever" condition, but in the meantime, he would erect temporary tent shows. The remaining attractions opened one week after the fire. Ultimately, the park was rebuilt with fireproof steel-and-concrete structures, as the municipality had passed a law restricting the construction of combustible wooden structures. The park's reconstruction was funded by a $2 million stock measure issued by the Steeplechase Park Company, which Tilyou established in 1908. Tilyou sold 100,000 shares in that company to the public and gave a season pass to everyone who bought a $5 stock certificate. The park partially reopened in April 1908. The New York Times described the construction as "scarcely finished" and that crowds "flocked" to the rebuilt attractions.The reconstruction was completed in 1909. The rebuilt park's main attraction was the Pavilion of Fun, a steel-and-glass enclosure measuring , with an area of . It contained several rides and tawdry, exhibitionist attractions reminiscent of the previous iteration of Steeplechase Park, such as the Human Wheel, Human Niagara, the Mixer, and the Grinder. The Pavilion of Fun had opened during the 1908 season. The Ferris wheel was salvaged from the original park and was placed outdoors. A new Steeplechase Horses attraction was built around the pavilion, designed so that riders had to exit through the Pavilion of Fun. Steeplechase also included two new entrances, a plaza overlooking a sunken garden, the Palace of Pleasure, a ballroom, and various sideshows. Other attractions included airships, Venetian gondolas, and an Automobile ride similar to that in the first Steeplechase Park. There were eight roller coasters inside the rebuilt park as well. As before the fire, admission was 25 cents. A "combo" admission ticket entitled the holder to one experience on each of the park's 25 attractions.
1910s and 1920s Tilyou continued to add attractions to Steeplechase in the late 1900s and early 1910s. He added the first of several carousels to the park in 1908, and the "World's Largest Swimming Pool" was completed the following year. Tilyou opened a hall with an indoor swimming pool to the west of the pavilion in 1911, at which point he declared that he wanted to add one new ride per week. Several attractions opened in 1912, including the El Dorado Carousel and other structures salvaged from Dreamland after it was destroyed in a 1911 fire. Around this time, local residents and businesspeople were advocating for the construction of a public beach and boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean. The New York Supreme Court ruled in 1913 that the state government could take over a section of Steeplechase Park, along the Atlantic shoreline, to make way for the public beach.