Although Tilyou owned a number of other rides, they were scattered around Coney Island until 1895, when Captain Paul Boyton inaugurated his enclosed Sea-Lion Park. Taking that as his cue ...

Coney Island had a slow evolution in the late 1800s, followed by a sudden flourish between 1895 and 1905. Indeed, so dramatic was the explosion that it is tempting to think of Coney Island as a ...