Coney Island History Day

WHAT'S NEW

[POSTPONED] August 11: History Day Celebrates Coney Island's Immigrant Heritage!

[POSTPONED] We're sorry, due to the rainy forecast on Saturday, August 11, and on Sunday, we are postponing our 8th annual History Day event for this weekend. We plan to reschedule it with the same programming for a date in September or October and hope you will join us then. Sign up for our e-news (link at bottom of page) or follow us on social media for updates!...

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Exhibit Center

Current Exhibit

Tours

Oral History

Collections

Ask Mr. Coney

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Featured Oral History Interviews

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Al Burgo

Memories of growing up on West 33rd Street in Coney Island and working on the Boardwalk in the 1960s

Marina Rubin

Ukrainian emigre writer and author of Stealing Cherries, a collection of flash fiction

Beth Allen

Beth Allen recounts her origins as an "incubator baby" in Dr. Martin Couney's sideshow

Charles Berkman

Memories of growing up in Coney Island during the Great Depression and 55 years practicing law

Billy Blitzer

Longtime baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs and Sea Gate resident

Louis Beard

Arcade game repairman

Explore Our Collection

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Dreamland Roller Rink (Childs Building)
Photography collection
Spook-A-Rama
Study Collection
Boardwalk in 1965
Personal photography collection
Mermaid Parade
Study Collection
Bungalow Fire, 1974
Photography collection
Luna Park pinwheel
Slide
Study Collection
Deborah Moody House
Photography collection

Hall of Fame

Inventors, performers, impresarios, and community leaders - these are among the many pioneers and visionaries whose creativity and ingenuity helped shape and define Coney Island over the past century. Each year, the Coney Island Hall of Fame pays tribute to a selected group of honorees. Their contributions are highlighted in an exhibit of colorful banners accompanied by illustrated text panels detailing their fascinating lives.

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Featured Video

Coney Island Creek: A Kayak Tour

  Coney Island Creek is the last remnant of a vast and vibrant salt marsh estuary that once covered nearly 3,000 acres between the sand dunes of Coney Island and the glacial plain of what is now Southern Brooklyn. The waterway became Coney Island’s earliest attraction as the island’s...
posted Jan 12th, 2018
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Ask Mr. Coney Island
Dear Mr. Coney Island...
I've been doing a search to find images, pictures and films/video and audio showing the incredible Classic Three Rotating Ring Carousel that I remembered, as a young boy, that was housed in the huge indoor Steeplechase Park. As a young boy in the 1950's I had been amazed at the mechanical complexity of such an amazing machine with its 'Three Counter Rotating Ride Rings', Beautifully Hand Carved and Lovingly Painted Motion and Still Horses, and the Powerful music that came from the Huge Mechanical Full Orchestra and Organ/Calliope. I was born and raised in Brooklyn and Coney Island was a regular venue for our family entertainment. I'm hoping you'll be the one to help restore this childhood amazement to me! Regards, namaste
- David

Hello David,

That would be the El Dorado Carousel, now located at Toshimaen Amusement Park in Tokyo. This magnificent machine was carved by Hugo Hasse of Leipzig Germany in 1902. In 1910 it was moved to Coney Island and installed in a building Surf Avenue at West Fifth Street. The carousel survived the 1911 Dreamland Fire, blistered but intact. George Tilyou brought the El Dorado to...
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Walking Tours
Coney Island Tours 

"A fascinating, accurate, unexpurgated look at the World's Playground"

Eventbrite - Coney Island History Project Walking Tour - September-October 2014

Take a stroll through Coney Island's amusement district--past, present and future--with the Coney Island History Project. Our unique walking tours are based on History Project Director Charles Denson's award-winning book "Coney Island: Lost and Found," the interviews from CIHP's Oral History Archive, and other primary sources.

Walking tours are led by History Project staff including historian Charles Denson or poet/teaching artist Amanda Deutch, who have over 100 years of family history in Coney Island! All tours begin with a private visit to the History Project's exhibition center under the Wonder Wheel's iconic entrance sign on Denos D. Vourderis Place (West 12th Street), just a few steps off the Boardwalk. The 1-1/2 hour tour includes a talk on the exhibits and objects on display.

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