The Tilyou House, Coney Island
George Bradford Brainerd
The first inn on Coney Island, Coney Island House, was established in the island’s Gravesend section, to the east, in 1829. Guests arrived by stagecoach, and the journey from the city was often grueling and time-consuming. By the 1840s, a daily ferry connection to the western part of the island brought visitors to Coney Island Pavilion, an early pleasure dome offering dancing, dining, and bathing. Whereas the eastern edge of the island catered to a middle-class and wealthier audience, this western part, known as Norton’s Point and the site of present-day Seagate, was closer to Manhattan and attracted a broader range of people. With the arrival of the first rail lines in the 1860s, the accumulation of bars, music halls, and entertainment contributed to the grittiness. The Tilyou family is intimately connected with Coney Island as providers of entertainment, and this image shows Peter Tilyou’s Surf House, established in 1865, a popular tavern close to the terminus of the first rail line. George Bradford Brainerd, the photographer, was a prolific and accomplished amateur who during his life documented urban and rural landscapes mostly in Brooklyn (an independent city until 1898) and New York, but also in the rest of Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
MEDIUM
Collodion silver glass wet plate negative
DATES
November 30, 1874
DIMENSIONS
3 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (8.3 x 17.1 cm) (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
1996.164.2-1136
CREDIT LINE
Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
George Bradford Brainerd (American, 1845â1887). The Tilyou House, Coney Island, November 30, 1874. Collodion silver glass wet plate negative, 3 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (8.3 x 17.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.2-1136 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.164.2-1136_glass_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1996.164.2-1136_glass_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
