Collection

Surf Avenue, Coney Island

Irving Underhill

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

This 1906 image shows the trolley service that since the 1890s had run from Park Row in lower Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, inaugurated in 1883. The trolley provided an additional easy and relatively cheap trip for many working-class and immigrant visitors to Coney. (The construction of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903 and the Manhattan Bridge in 1909 further facilitated the journey.) The subway would eventually replace the trolley. Here the trolley is shown running on Surf Avenue, Coney Island’s main street and transportation hub, parallel to the beach. The photograph shows the Loop the Loop, one of the first mechanical rides on the island from 1883 and a precursor to the roller coaster. Note also the many electrical lines, which supplied energy for illumination and the running of the amusement parks.

Caption

Irving Underhill (American, 1872–1960). Surf Avenue, Coney Island, 1906. Gelatin dry glass plate negative. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.8-B10221. © Estate of Irving Underhill. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Surf Avenue, Coney Island

Date

1906

Medium

Gelatin dry glass plate negative

Classification

Matrix

Credit Line

Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection

Accession Number

1996.164.8-B10221

Rights

© Estate of Irving Underhill

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Artists and makers

Irving Underhill

109 works in the collection