Steeplechase Park
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Steeplechase Park was an amusement park in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York from 1897 to 1964. It was one of the leading attractions of its day and one of the most influential amusement parks of all time.
It was created by George Cornelius Tilyou, who grew up in a family that ran a Coney Island restaurant. While visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, he saw the Ferris Wheel and decided to build his own on Coney Island; it immediately became the resort's biggest attraction. He added other rides and attractions, including a mechanical horse race course from which the park derived its name. Tilyou also constructed scale models of world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben.
Steeplechase burned during the 1907 season, destroying most of the park. It was rebuilt for the 1908 season, although the new park was not fully open until 1909. Steeplechase burned again in less-destructive incidents in 1936 and 1939. After a downward spiral of accidents, clashes between rival groups within the Tilyou family, and rising crime in the neighborhood of the park, it closed permanently at the end of the 1964 season.
Today the old site of Steeplechase Park is occupied by KeySpan Park, a Minor league baseball stadium that is home to the New York Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York - Penn League. The only structure still standing that was once part of Steeplechase is the tall tower of the Parachute Jump.
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