Irving Underhill’s 1906 photograph highlights the architectural and technological innovations of Con

Irving Underhill’s 1906 photograph highlights the architectural and technological innovations of Coney Island’s amusement park era. At center is the entrance to the Loop-the-Loop ride, one of the first looping roller coasters in the United States and the second to be built at Coney Island. Just left of center is the 300-foot Iron Tower, once the tallest structure in the U.S. Created for the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, it featured a revolutionary steam-powered elevator that would take visitors up to an observation platform for views of the ocean. Dreamland’s 375-foot Beacon Tower, which was the tallest structure in Coney Island by 1904 and had 100,000 electric lights, can be found on the right of Underhill’s image.The photograph also shows the increasingly numerous modes of transportation to the resort. In addition to the horse drawn carriages and cars seen in the foreground, as well as steamships and ferries, visitors could take the trolley line (seen in the background) that began a decade earlier and connected the travel destination to lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Posted by Connie H. ChoiIrving Underhill (American, 1872–1960) Surf Avenue, Coney Island, 1906. Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library -- source link

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