Souvenir Photo: Nick and Niko Ring the Dreamland Pier Bell at the Coney Island History Project, Sept 13, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/Coney Island History Project via flickr
If you missed the chance to ring the century old Dreamland Pier Bell at the Coney Island History Project last month, you’ll have a chance to ring it at Brooklyn Borough Hall beginning next week (Oct 6). Gene Ritter, the Coney Island diver who discovered the Bell and raised it from the ocean floor on September 3 is bringing the Bell to Brooklyn Borough Hall for a public exhibition at the invitation of Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Ritter told ATZ the Bell is expected to travel traveled from Coney Island to Borough Hall today (Oct 2) to be ready for a celebratory bell ringing on Tuesday that will kick off a two to four week public exhibition. “I think we will have the Bell on display in the main hall at first,” said Ritter. “Then we will move it to the tourism and visitors center. I was told once we get there we could pick the best spot for the Bell.”
Diver and Bell Discoverer Gene Ritter with Historic Photos of the Bell. Photo © Tricia Vita/Coney Island History Project via flickr
During the Bell’s display at the Coney Island History Project, visitors were invited to “Be a Part of History…Ring the Bell!” Ritter’s future plans for exhibiting the Bell are still tentative. He is in discussion with the New York Aquarium in Coney Island and Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino as possible off season venues. One thing for sure, Ritter says the Bell will return to Coney Island to ring in the opening day of the season at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park on Palm Sunday 2010. He would also like to bring the Bell back to the Coney Island History Project’s seasonal exhibition center, which is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Vintage Ad: Iron Steamboat Co. "The Only All Water Route" to Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/Coney Island History Project via flickr
The 1885 bronze bell once welcomed steamship passengers arriving at the New Iron Pier to visit Coney Island’s original Dreamland Park, which was on the site of the New York Aquarium. The historic bell survived the Dreamland fire of 1911 and was discovered underwater after a 20-year quest by Coney Island diver Gene Ritter. On display with the Bell are period images from historian Charles Denson’s archive including a photo of the Bell at the end of the Iron Pier and a vintage ad for “The Only All Water Route” to Coney Island. Rates were 35 cents round trip!
The Bell was cast by James Gregory in 1885. Photo © Tricia Vita/Coney Island History Project via flickr
Information about “James Gregory,” the bell maker whose name is inscribed on the Bell, has come to light thanks to the research of architect David Grider. The Brooklyn resident and history buff has experience with the hanging and mounting of Bells having managed bell projects for Trinity Church at St. Paul’s Chapel (the Lord Mayor’s bell, a memorial to 9/11) and Trinity Church (a new 12-bell Change Ring assembly in the steeple of the church). He has volunteered to help design the final home for the Dreamland Bell and in the meantime is cobbling together an essay on Coney Island’s historic bell:
I’ve attached the excerpt I found last night about the Mechanics’ Bell, a sort of complicated story of a bell that was apparently cast in 1831 and erected in various locations around the city. The last page has the info about the foundry:
“… so a new bell was cast from the metal of the old one by James Gregory of Cannon Street, the brass founder, who had been in that location since about 1850, being the successor of William Buckley, the bell founder.”
I was struck by the similarity of its bell mount to the one seen in that picture of the new iron pier, and wow, what an amazing find the Dreamland Bell is: not only a link to America’s premier amusement destination, but also, indirectly, a sort of lost beacon for New York’s vanished ship-building industry – it would not surprise me if the Dreamland Bell was cast from the very same mold that Gregory would have used to make the Mechanic’s Bell.
Gregory looks to have been in business at least 40 years. I particularly like the 1896 Ad from American Yacht; seems he also ran the Eckford Iron Works. Most of the area (Cannon Street, etc.) was plowed under for Baruch Houses and other urban renewal projects, not unlike big chunks of Coney…
After a celebratory welcome of the dive team and the Bell on October 6, Tuesday, at 11 am, the free exhibition is scheduled to run through October 23, 2009. Hours are 9 am -6 pm, Monday- Friday. Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn.
An 1896 ad from American Yacht for Eckford Iron Works on Cannon Street lists James Gregory, Brass Founder and Finisher, as one of the proprietors. Coney Island History Project via flickr
Related posts on ATZ…
September 9, 2010: Thor’s Coney Island: Faber’s Fascination Goes Dark After 50 Years
February 25, 2010: Happy Belated Birthday to Coney Island’s William F Mangels
November 16, 2009: Rare & Vintage: Coney Island Sideshow Banner by Dan Casola
May 29, 2009: Astroland Star from Coney Island’s Space-Age Theme Park Donated to the Smithsonian
Amusing the Zillion 