Page 27 (left): The Tower at Dreamland

Page 27 (left) of the Glimpses of the New Coney Island book: The Tower at Dreamland

Photograph of Beacon Tower in Dreamland Park with the Lagoon in the foreground

"In the center of the lagoon stood the 375 foot high Beacon Tower that was a replica of the famous Giradela tower of Seville Spain. The 50 foot square tower that cost $100,000 to construct was painted pure white and studded with 44,700 electric bulbs that made it a tower of light after dusk. Electricity costs were $1 per minute. A rotating searchlight at its top was a beacon for all of New York City. Unfortunately its alternating red and white beam too closely resembled that of Norton Point's lighthouse. The city feared that it would lure ships onto Coney Island's beaches and ordered it removed. Visitors could ascend via two elevators to its observation deck for a magnificent 50 mile view including all of Coney Island and in the distance the island of Manhattan."
(from: http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/dreamland.htm)