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Former amusement park in Brooklyn, New York

Dreamland was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1904 to 1911. It was the last of the three original large parks built on Coney Island, along with Steeplechase Park and Luna Park. The park was between Surf Avenue to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It was arranged roughly as a horseshoe, with a pier facing south toward the Atlantic Ocean. Dreamland contained several attractions that were larger versions of those at Luna Park, and it included a human zoo, several early roller coasters, a Shoot the Chutes ride, and a replica of Venice. Dreamland also hosted entertainment and dramatic spectacles based on morality themes. Several structures, such as the Pompeiian, Electricity, and Submarine Boat buildings, were dedicated to exhibits. Former state senator William H. Reynolds announced plans in July 1903 for an amusement park rivaling Luna Park, originally known as the Hippodrome. The Dreamland Company started constructing the park in December 1903, and the park opened as Dreamland on May 15, 1904. The park operated between May and September of each year, and Reynolds constantly changed Dreamland's shows and attractions every season. Coney Island had reached its peak popularity by the late 1900s, but Dreamland struggled to compete with Luna Park, which was better managed. During the early morning of May 27, 1911, just after the start of Dreamland's eighth season, a worker kicked over a bucket of hot pitch, starting a fire that spread through the park's wooden buildings. Firefighters were unable to control the fire because of low water pressure; nearly all of the structures were quickly destroyed, although no one was killed. The site's northern portion, on Surf Avenue, was quickly redeveloped with various concessions. The New York City government acquired the southern portion through condemnation in 1912, but disputes over compensation continued for eight years. The site became a parking lot in 1921 and was redeveloped as a recreation center in 1935; the New York Aquarium was eventually built on the site in 1957.

Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. Sea Lion Park opened in 1895 and was Coney Island's first amusement area to charge entry fees; this in turn spurred the construction of George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park in 1897, the neighborhood's first major amusement park. Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy opened Luna Park, Coney Island's second major amusement park, in 1903 on the site of Sea Lion Park, which had closed the previous year. William H. Reynolds, a former state senator and successful Brooklyn real estate developer, decided to construct Dreamland following the success of Luna Park. He intended for Dreamland to compete with Luna Park. Dreamland was supposed to be refined and elegant in its design and architecture, compared to Luna Park with its many rides and chaotic noise. Reynolds announced plans in July 1903 for an amusement park rivaling Luna Park, which was to be built in a style resembling London's Hippodrome. According to local media, he reportedly paid $180,000 for a pier on the Coney Island Beach, The Times Union subsequently said that the purchase prices for the site were not correct. The Surf Avenue parcels had belonged to John Y. McKane, Previously, the parcels had also included the Coney Island Athletic Club's arena Once Reynolds acquired the site, he made a deal with the New York City Board of Estimate to demap West Eighth Street, which separated McKane's parcels from each other. The street, which had taken up one sixth of the proposed park's width, contained a trolley terminal that needed to be relocated. The amusement pier was planned to contain a dance hall and bathing pavilion, while the main portion of the site would be arranged around a large tower that would overtop Luna Park's. The company took title to the plots in September 1903 and received a $200,000 mortgage loan from the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. Construction of the park itself began in December 1903. Reynolds, wishing to surpass Luna Park by every metric, reportedly spent $3.5 million on Dreamland. Dreamland had one million lights, compared to 250,000 lights at Luna Park; even Dreamland's firefighting show was more elaborate than that at Luna Park. Dreamland also planned to differentiate itself from Luna Park by adding novel attractions, as well as operating a private beach and bath house (something that Luna Park lacked because of its inland location).

Dreamland opened on May 15, 1904, The park was $1.9 million in debt, more than the entire amount invested in the competing Luna Park. Dreamland charged 10 cents for admission on weekdays and 15 cents on weekends, plus an additional fee of up to 25 cents for individual rides. Reynolds said Dreamland had recorded a $400,000 net profit during the operating season, which ran from May 13 to September 24. Among these was a show based on the Creation myth, which had been exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition; this attraction alone cost $250,000. City officials temporarily closed Dreamland's pier in May 1905, citing the fact that the pier was too narrow to accommodate crowds. Many of the park's shows were replaced for the 1906 season, and park officials also rebuilt the pier. The new attractions for that season included a reenactment of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake's aftermath; a Moqui Indian village; a rebuilt Creation show; and the Touring New York car show. The park opened for the 1906 season on May 20, Dreamland's third season ended on September 24, 1906. Prior to the 1907 season, concessionaire William Ellis introduced an attraction called the Orient, anchored by a theater that presented several shows. Park officials also built a new administration building and installed other shows. Park officials gave $50 to the first guest of the season on May 18, 1907, and the park operated through September 21 of that year. At this point, the park hosted several shows that were based on themes of morality, such as "The End of the World" and the "Feast of Beshazzar and the Destruction of Babylon".

Coney Island had reached its peak popularity by the late 1900s, when millions of people visited the neighborhood every year. Despite its many amusements, Dreamland struggled to compete with the better managed Luna Park. As such, for the 1908 season, the park's management decided to offer free admission during weekdays; although the free admission policy did not extend to individual rides, the policy still attracted visitors. The park opened for the season on May 23, 1908, and operated until September 20. For this season, Ellis added an auditorium with more than one thousand seats, and the park also added shows such as Freak Street, the Moroccan Jugglers, and an Old Virginia show. Prior to the 1909 season, four thousand workmen completely revamped the park's attractions. The ballroom was expanded to accommodate 1,500 couples. The park's operators said "everything at Dreamland will be new but the ocean". and ended on September 19. That year, New York City mayor George B. McClellan Jr. attempted to prevent the park from staging live shows on Sundays, citing the city's blue laws, although Reynolds strongly opposed the legislation. Dreamland had previously held a license permitting it to present shows seven days a week. When the license was renewed in June 1909, the shows were allowed only six days a week. Gumpertz said the city government took issue with Dreamland's circus, which was free of charge. City officials also objected to the Filipino villagers' attire, which exposed their legs. Kings County sheriff Patrick H. Quinn announced in February 1910 that the park would be auctioned off on behalf of Eugene Wood and Joseph Huber, the corporation's two largest bondholders, who wanted to reorganize the company. The auction only involved a nominal change of ownership, as Huber and Wood bought the park the next month. Dreamland's seventh season began on May 14, 1910, and ran until September 18. Among the new attractions for the 1910 season were Alligator Joe's alligator and crocodile farm, a Bornean village, and a ride called Trip to the North Pole. In preparation for Dreamland's 1911 season, its operators made additional changes. For instance, the buildings were repainted in white and red, and the structures near the Surf Avenue entrance were demolished to make way for a lighting plant with 130,000 additional light bulbs. Various rides such as the Great Divide, Canals of Venice, Tub Ride, and Hell Gate were enlarged, The site of the old ballroom was converted to a skating rink, and the bathing pavilion on the ocean was expanded significantly. The park added thirty new shows, such as Joseph Ferari's animal show, a biblical show known as the Sacrifice, and a village of "human curiosities". Dreamland also hired Omar Sami as a carnival barker for the 1911 season, and the park opened for its eighth season on May 20, 1911.

Despite the implementation of fire safety regulations in certain areas of Coney Island after a major blaze in 1902, these regulations were not extended to Dreamland. Consequently, the park remained highly vulnerable to fire. A leak had to be caulked with tar. During these repairs, at about 1:30 a. m., the light bulbs turned off and a worker kicked over a bucket of hot pitch, causing the light bulbs to explode. Winds from the ocean caused the fire to quickly spread throughout the park. The Dreamland fire was the first double nine alarm fire that the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) had ever fought in Brooklyn. efn|Prior to the Dreamland fire, the FDNY had only ever responded to one other "two nine" fire in 1904, when the Adams Express Building burned down. Fires had been a persistent problem at Coney Island, so a high pressure water pumping station had been constructed at West 15th Street near Coney Island Creek during the 1900s. On the night of the Dreamland fire, the water pressure was extremely low: the pumping station was capable of supplying water at , but the pressure had dropped to As the park burned, tens of thousands of onlookers traveled from across New York City to see the fire. Another animal, Sultan, was shot several dozen times before being killed by an axe blow. According to contemporary accounts, New York City Police Department (NYPD) sergeant Frederick Klinck made several trips into the burning structure to rescue incubator babies. The tower collapsed just after 3 a. m., as did both of Dreamland's piers. Only one building remained intact after the fire, and all concessions were destroyed. The entire complex had been constructed of combustible materials, so insurers saw the park as high risk. The park was consequently insured for only about $400,000. A preliminary investigation found that the fire had started when the tar spread across the floor, creating a short circuit that caused the light bulbs to explode. Coney Island attracted 350,000 visitors on that day; concessionaires attracted some of these visitors by exhibiting debris and dead animals,

Immediately after the fire was extinguished, Reynolds indicated that he would not rebuild the burned park. Two days after the fire, Reynolds proposed selling Dreamland's site to the New York City government for a "fair price", which would allow the city to convert the land to a public park. The Times Union reported the price as $3 million, but Reynolds denied these allegations. He suggested that the New York City government could buy the tract surrounding his park for that amount. The New York City Board of Estimate began considering buying the Dreamland site in mid June 1911, and it voted to acquire the Dreamland site via condemnation at the end of July 1911. The board approved a revised proposal that October in which it agreed to pay $1 million for a site. The revised proposal excluded the northernmost 200 feet (61 m) of Dreamland's site, on Surf Avenue, thereby splitting the park's site into two sections. Brooklyn borough president Alfred E. Steers immediately advocated for selling the site and developing a boardwalk along the ocean. Legal disputes quickly arose over who held the Dreamland site's property title. The Morey and Lott families claimed in late 1911 that nearly all of Coney Island fell under a quitclaim deed granted by Nicholas Johnson, who had agreed to sell the land even though he had no right to the property. and the city formed a condemnation commission the same month to determine how much compensation the former owners should receive. The city took title to the Dreamland site in March 1912. Although the condemnation commissioners began taking testimony that October, A New York Supreme Court justice dismissed the Morey and Lott families' lawsuit in May 1913, and the Dreamland Company received $1,000 in damages. The condemnation commission announced in late 1914 that it would pay $2.189 million to property owners, which included the Dreamland Company, the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (PP&CI), and the Balmer family. The award was revised downward to just over $2.1 million in June 1915, but the city appealed the award, and the condemnation proceedings were delayed for years. The city selected a second group of commissioners, The commissioners notified the state government of the revised award in October 1919; by then, the cost of the condemnation itself had grown to $800,000.

By July 1911, independent concessionaires had rebuilt their booths on the northern portion of the site, facing Surf Avenue; the remainder of the park remained ruined. The northern part of the site contained "a sideshow of freaks and some shooting galleries" in 1912. Gumpertz leased the northern parcel in 1914, measuring 400 feet (122 m) on Surf Avenue and 200 feet (61 m) deep; he intended to restore the attractions there. By the next year, the northern part of the site had roller coasters, side shows, and shooting galleries named after Dreamland. Film producer William Fox acquired the northern part of the site at an auction in March 1921 for $407,750, and he resold it in June 1921 to Gumpertz and William M. Greve for $450,000. Gumpertz and Greve planned to rebuild the park, although this never happened.

The southern section of the park was not redeveloped for several decades after the 1911 fire. The site was supposed to be part of the unbuilt Seaside Park. The New York City government had planned to rebuild Dreamland's pier and fill it with rock; the pier was supposed to be completed in mid 1914, but two years later it still had not been rebuilt. R. H. Pfoor proposed constructing a bathhouse on Dreamland's site in 1919, but city officials rejected the proposal. The city government converted its portion of the site into a parking lot in 1921. The city had expanded the parking lot to 2,000 spaces by 1922, and it also operated a seasonal skating rink on Dreamland's site. Morris Auditore and Harry Shea leased the site from the city in 1926; the Supreme Court initially issued an injunction blocking the lease, but the Appellate Division reversed the injunction. The next year, the New York City Board of Aldermen blocked a proposal for the city to either sell the land or convert it into some "public use". Auditore and Shea operated the parking lot until 1933, when their lease was canceled because they could not afford to pay $26,000 a year. Although the Park Association of New York City suggested that the site be converted back into a public park, the city leased the parking lot to Irving Rosoff in February 1933. City park commissioner Robert Moses canceled Rosoff's lease the next year. By 1935, the city planned to rebuild Dreamland as an recreation center with courts for handball, ping pong, and shuffleboard, as well as a large open field for archery and other games. In addition, the recreation center was to contain more than 600 trees, as well as a connection to the Riegelmann Boardwalk, which was built along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline after Dreamland had been destroyed. The city government first considered relocating the New York Aquarium to the Dreamland site in 1941 after the closure of Castle Clinton, the aquarium's previous home in Manhattan. Although plans for the new aquarium were announced in 1943, it did not open until 1957. The New York Aquarium occupies the entire Dreamland site. A bronze bell, which had been installed on Dreamland's pier until the 1911 fire, was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. According to Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project, the bell was the only surviving major remnant of Dreamland's pier.

The park was on a parcel between Surf Avenue to the north, West 5th Street to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and West 10th Street to the west. four times as many lights as Luna Park. The structures were generally painted in light colors. Throughout most of Dreamland's history, the attractions were painted white with small touches of green or yellow; the exception was the 1911 season, when the buildings were all repainted red and white.

The park was arranged roughly as a horseshoe, with a pier facing south toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Dreamland's primary landside entrance was on Surf Avenue, where there was an arch measuring 150 feet (46 m) deep, 75 feet (23 m) high, and 50 feet (15 m) wide; the portal was intended to resemble a theater's proscenium arch. measuring square at its base and approximately 375 feet (114 m)Efn|Some sources give an alternate height of 370 feet (113 m). The tower's gold and white facade contained large arches; bas reliefs carved by Perry Hinton; and 100,000 electric lights.

On the north side of the park, to the left of the Surf Avenue entrance, was a medieval style entrance with a show called Our Boys in Blue. The Chilkoot Pass building was situated within a classical style structure whose main entrance resembled a proscenium arch. South of that was a fishing pond operated by comedian Andrew Mack, located inside a building that resembled a boat and a lighthouse. who had their own livery tent, stable, laundry, and fire department. including triplets who were members of the Dicker family. At the time, the technology was not allowed in hospitals, but the incubators were allowed in side shows; two of the triplets survived to adulthood.

In a bid for publicity, Reynolds awarded a concession for the park's peanut and popcorn stands to Broadway actress Marie Dressler, with young boys dressed as imps in red flannel acting as salesmen. Dressler may have been in love with Captain Jack Bonavita, Dreamland's one armed lion tamer. The writer Marcia Reiss wrote in 2014 that the park was a "dazzling white city", calling it "Coney Island's grandest and shortest lived amusement park". The park has been depicted in various works of popular culture. Artist Philomena Marano created a body of work inspired by the park in the papier collé method, American Dream Land. Brian Carpenter wrote a play treatment which he used as a springboard for lyrics and compositions behind his second studio album for Beat Circus entitled Dreamland. The album featured Todd Robbins, an alumnus of Coney Island, and its booklet includes historical images of Dreamland donated by the Coney Island Museum. The Public Theater also staged the play Fire in Dreamland in 2018, which is based on the park's 1911 conflagration.