Coney Island and the Lost Luna Park

Updated: Dec 3, 2023

What images come to mind when the words "Coney Island" are said? Is it waves on the shore, an eye-watering sun, children playing in the surf, or maybe...amusement rides? For more than one hundred fifty years, Coney Island has been welcoming and entertaining crowds along its beaches. In fact, in the early 20th Century, there were three...yes, three amusement parks: Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Dreamland. All of these parks allowed their guests entry to the beach that was not easily accessible with private bathhouses and piers. Unfortunately, none of these original parks remain, yet, there are some glimmers of Coney Island's past. A "new" Luna Park was opened 107 years after the original. Let's take a stroll around Coney Island, past and present.

The original Luna Park around the early 20th Century and the new version of Luna Park, opened in 2010.

The pioneering Luna Park was built by two dreamers, Fredric Thompson and Elmer Dundy. They had created an amusement ride for the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in 1901. Due to the success of this ride, the owner of Steeplechase Park leased the attraction for his patrons after the fair closed. The lease allowed Thompson and Dundy to dream of an amusement park with their own attractions and designs center stage. So, the duo bought 22 acres in Coney Island, some of which was land from an old sea lion park. Playing homage to the 1893 Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition, Luna Park had elegant, ornately designed, snow-white structures. According to the website Heart of Coney Island, "Luna Park, including its large main gate, would be painted white, like the fair's 'White City'. Thompson also borrowed the concept of a 'Court of Honor, with numerous colonnades and peristyles, to aid in the architectural effect. A large, elliptical pool stood in the middle of the park, bookended by Boyton's Chutes on one end and Luna's 'Electric Tower' on the other end, named after the Electric Tower of the 1901 Buffalo World's Fair. The colonnades also connected most of the buildings such that visitors could walk from building to building without getting wet if it rained. An additional thirty-two towers would complete the scene, all outlined in light bulbs."*

The New York Public Library Digital Collection Luna Park Postcard

The park opened in May 1903 and to commemorate this grand opening, its 250,000 lights were simultaneously turned on at sunset to reveal its fanciful buildings and amusements. The large crowd looked on with wonder and delight.* In an era when the light bulb was rare and thousands of light bulbs rarer still, walking through Luna Park at night must have seemed like a dream.

To many of New York City residents, Luna Park was known as the heart of Coney Island. Although this was self-promoted, the park held a special place with its guests. The rides and games appealed to adults as well as children and delighted all.

To see some of the attractions, scroll through the pictures below.

All photographs of Luna Park's attractions - Library of Congress

New York Public Library Digital Collection - Luna Park Attractions

Almost one year after Luna Park opened, there was a new competitor for Coney Island visitors. According to Noah Sheidlower from Untapped History, "Dreamland was designed specifically to compete with Luna Park, known for its many rides and chaotic noise. In contrast, Dreamland featured refined architecture, a central tower with one million electric light bulbs, and (what was considered) high-class entertainment."**

Some two decades later, major changes were on the horizon for Luna Park. When the Coney Island Boardwalk opened in 1923, the parks lost their exclusive access to the shore. This factor and the constant competition from other parks such as Dreamland and Steeplechase Park, Luna Park began to slow decline. By the beginning of World War II, Luna Park was in its final days. Its once wonderous and shimmering lights could not be turned due to wartime security. In 1944, a fire destroyed much of Luna Park, and it was never rebuilt to its original form. What was left behind after the blaze was demolished in 1946.

Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Collection - Fire at Luna Park, August 13, 1944

Luna Park never left the hearts of Coney Island visitors though. And unbelievably, some 70 years later, a new Luna Park emerged as part of the Coney Island Revitalization Plan. Although there is no real connection between the new and the old park other than the name. The Luna Park of 2010 does pay tribute to the Luna Park of 1903 in some of the rides, attractions' names, and of course, the similar entrance signs.

But for some, there is no substitute for the first Luna Park with its wistfulness and delight.