Sea Lion Park was a amusement park started in 1895 on Coney Island by

Paul Boyton Paul Boyton (often misspelled Boynton) (1848-1924), known as the ''Fearless Frogman'', was a showman and adventurer some credit as having spurred worldwide interest in water sports as a hobby, particularly open-water swimming. Boyton, whose bir ...

. He fenced the property and charged admission, the park becoming the first enclosed and permanent amusement park in North America. Up until the establishment of this park, amusement areas around the country consisted of pay-as-you-go concessions.History of Enduring Coney Island
Retrieved 4 August 2007. In 1903, Sea Lion Park was replaced by

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...

History

Paul Boyton achieved international notice with various demonstrations of a rubber suit, which was a life saving device, similar to a type of kayak, for example, by crossing the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

.Stanton, Jeffrey (1998
Coney Island-Sea Lion Park
retrieved 4 August 2007 He travelled around the United States with an aquatic circus and in 1894 established an amusement park in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He then decided to settle in Coney Island and purchased the land behind the Elephant Hotel as a permanent location for his aquatic show featuring 40 sea lions.

Rides and attractions

The most popular attraction, aside from the aquatic show, was a ride called the

Water Chute A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of Playground slide, slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides re ...

. The attraction, designed by Boyton and Thomas Polk, consisted of flat bottomed boat that slid down a ramp into a pool of water at the bottom. When the boat hit the pool it would skim across the surface of the pool. Boyton, a consummate showman, also publicized the ride by staging contests in which animals ranging from lions to bears and even baby elephants would ride the chutes. The park also included the infamous ''

Flip Flap Railway Flip Flap Railway was the name of a looping wooden roller coaster which operated for a number of years at Paul Boyton's Sea Lion Park on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The coaster, which opened in 1895, was the first looping roller coaster ...

'', which was a roller coaster ride, designed by

Lina Beecher Lina Beecher (January 2, 1841 – October 5, 1915) was an American inventor and roller coaster engineer. Beecher is best known for building the first looping roller coaster in North America, which was known as the Flip Flap Railway, and a later ...

, that inverted the riders in a loop after fall from a height of 20m.Luna Park History site
Retrieved 4 August 2007 The ride was too dangerous and was closed. Boyton also added an old mill style ride called Cages of Wild Wolves, and a ballroom (1899).

Demise

By 1902, Boyton could not keep up the pace of new attraction introductions that the public craved. Boyton tried to keep the public interested by investing $100,000 in a revamp of Sea Lion Park during the winter of 1901, and he also purchased Topsy, a well-known elephant, early in the spring of 1902 from Forepaugh's Circus. However, the 1902 season was rainy and not profitable. The nearby

Steeplechase Park Steeplechase Park was a amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Steeplechase Park was created by entrepreneur George C. Tilyou in 1897 and operated until 1964. It was the first of the three large amusement parks built on Cone ...

had opened on Coney Island in 1897 and was presenting even newer competition. By the end of 1902,

Frederic Thompson Frederic Williams Thompson (October 31, 1873 – June 6, 1919) was an American architect, engineer, inventor, and showman known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks. Biography Frederic Thompson was born i ...

and

Elmer "Skip" Dundy Elmer Scipio "Skip" Dundy Jr. (March 31, 1862 – February 5, 1907) was an American showman and promoter known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks. Biography Elmer Scipio Dundy Jr. ("Skip") was born in Falls ...

obtained a long term lease for Sea Lion Park and it was re-opened as

.Samuel Hawley, TOPSY THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT, .samuelhawley.com (research collected for the novel "Bad Elephant Far Stream")
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References

External links

Captain Paul Boyton and Sea Lion Park
at Heart of Coney Island

{{Coney Island Amusement parks opened in 1895 Amusement parks closed in 1903 Animal theme parks Coney Island Cultural history of New York City 1895 establishments in New York City 1903 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct amusement parks in New York (state)

History

Rides and attractions

Demise

See also

References

External links