Steeplechase Park

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Burned 1907

The Disappointed Tourist: Steeplechase Park, Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photograph: Etienne Frossard.

Requested by BDW. and Anon.

Steeplechase Park was an amusement park in Coney Island that was opened in 1897 by entrepreneur George C. Tilyou. The name was derived from one of its original attractions, the “Steeplechase Horses” ride, an attraction that featured gravity-pulled mechanical horses racing along metal tracks. Its original iteration was destroyed by fire in 1907 but was rebuilt and operated until 1964, making it the longest-running amusement park in Coney Island.