Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart Radio and

Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these

amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. amusement parks are meant to be fun. You eat a little funnel cake. You get on a roller coaster and then you eject that funnel cake into the nearest garbage can, you know, fun.

But in between bites of corn dogs and slurps of lemonade are rides that are meant to thrill and excite you.

But several parks haven't always been so amusing.

In fact, at one time they were pretty problematic,

not because of the attractions or the food,

but because of how they came to be. Before Six Flags,

Dorny Park and Dollywood, there was Coney Island. Do a quick search online and you'll

likely find early footage from any of Coney Island's famous parks.

You'll see women in long dresses and men in suits, riding on a scenic railway or

holding on for dear life as the famous Cyclone roller coaster shakes its wooden frame.

But long before Coney Island was known as a place for families to spend the day riding rides and playing games,

it was known by one unfortunate name, Sodom by the sea.

Let's back up for a moment.

Coney Island is located in southwestern Brooklyn and became a prime vacation spot starting in the

1830s. It was far enough away from Manhattan and the other boroughs that many New

Yorkers would flock to its beaches for a quick getaway. The next several decades

were full of growth and development with the

installation of a ferry as well as several hotels and restaurants. Then in

1897 New York businessman George Tylu built Steeplechase Park, complete with a

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