Welcome aboard Pink Monraille. I'm your pilot, Michelle Vio Doleid and next to me is my co-pilot

my husband Noah Vaya De lead.

Hey everybody.

We're going to continue our look at manufacturing the magic, a history of the American

theme park. Today we're looking at Coney Island. There are several different tales of how Coney Island got its name.

One story says that it was named after the Koneh or Bear Tribe. Another says it's named after

Explorer Henry Hudson's right-hand man John Coleman, who was killed by Native Americans.

And a third says it's for the Dutch word K-O-N-I-J-N,

which means Rabbit, as when they got there in 1624,

the island was inhabited by thousands of rabbits. In early maps, it's called

Naryak, or the islets that combined to eventually form the island, were named Pine Island, Pelican Island, and Sedg Bank.

In 1816, a treaty on placed names in New York called it Conin Island after a group of families who lived there.

In the first half of the 19th century, a Coney Island Creek Ferry took passengers to and from the island.

A man named Peter O'Connor swore he named it after an almost identical island in Ireland. At this time,

Tammany Hall was sending people down to the island to run prostitution and gambling,

as well as fixing elections.

In 1829 a crushed shell road was opened and a hotel the Coney Island House opened for business.

I'm getting this from PBS.org. Samuel Colt of Colt 45 fame

installed an observation tower on the island in 1845 to telegraph ship arrivals to

New York City. By 1870, gangs ran rampant, drinking and gambling,

and visitors were worried and warned to keep an eye on their wallets.

Michael Thunderbird Norton ran a rowdy hotel at Norton's Point at the far end of the island.

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