Transportation to Coney Island
"Never was any one public improvement inaugurated amid a more universal feeling of favor than these railroadsl"- Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporter
Investments in new transportation routes to Coney Island directly affected the growth of Coney Island. Street cars, railway lines, and steamboat routes were the traditional modes of transportation; however, other conveyances included excursion boats, ferry boats, elevated trains, electric trolleys, subway trains, horsecars, hackney carriages, and bicycles (Kasson 37). Further enhancing these modes of transportation were investments in the construction of new bridges and tunnels connecting New York’s boroughs. Coney Island was flooded with visitors from downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Long Island. Although the means of transportation varied by accessibility, and the time required for the journey varied by the means of transportation, the cost was consistently low. In the early 1890s, the cheapest fare ranged from forty cents to fifty cents. By 1895, improvements in rapid transit beginning with the nickel trolley forced prices to drop, which brought the trip within the means of the great masses (Kasson 37). Suddenly, the exclusive seaside resort became a popular playground for a diverse crowd reflecting a wide range of immigrant working-class and native middle-class residents.
The new transportation systems that came in to use during the nineteenth century reproduced the movement of Coney Island. The speed of the train, the trolley, and the automobile along the bumpy city streets of New York City produced a feeling like that of riding a roller coaster. Subways often came to a sudden stop causing passengers to fall to the side or be jolted out of their seat. This instigated a sensual interaction between men and women that conflicted with Victorian gender relations.
Similar interactions occurred on rides because male and female passengers could sit in close proximity to one another. This sensational relationship between transportation and rides was an innovative experience that reflected the integration of technology and entertainment at Coney Island. A more practical relationship also existed between transportation and rides. Some rides were exact replicas of transportation methods. The most obvious example was the miniature railway, which, like many other rides at Coney Island, was powered by electricity.
Continue reading > Electricity
