Dreamland (amusement park)
Dreamland park in 1907
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| Location | Coney Island, Brooklyn, United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°34′37″N 73°58′44″W / 40.577°N 73.979°W |
| Owner | William H. Reynolds |
| Opened | 1904 |
| Closed | Destroyed by fire in 1911 |
Dreamland was an ambitious amusement park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City from 1904 to 1911. It was the last, and considered the grandest, of the three original iconic large parks built on Coney Island, the other two being Steeplechase Park and Luna Park.
The park was founded by William H. Reynolds, a former state senator and successful Brooklyn real estate developer. He designed the park to compete with Luna Park, a neighboring amusement park opened in 1903. 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 purchased a 15-acre (6.1 ha) parcel at Surf Avenue and West Eighth Street on which to build the park, using proxy buyers in order to hide his real ambitions for the lot. Once he bought the site, he used political power to demolish West Eighth Street in order to expand the lot. Today, the site is near the site of the West Eighth Street subway station opposite Culver Depot, the then-terminal of New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line and BMT Culver Line. The site is now the location of the New York Aquarium and the adjacent subway station.
Opened on May 15, 1904, Dreamland was a park in which everything was reputed to be bigger and more expansive than in neighboring Luna Park. Dreamland had a larger central "Tower" and one million electric light bulbs illuminating and outlining its buildings, 4 times as many lights as Luna Park. Dreamland featured relatively high-class entertainment and dramatic spectacles based on morality themes such as "The End of the World" and the Orient Theater's "Feast of Beshazzar and the Destruction of Babylon." It also featured elegant architecture, pristine white towers, and some educational exhibits along with the rides and thrills.
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