George C. Tilyou is one of the most significant figures in the cultivation of Coney Island into a major New York City attraction. Tilyou was born in New York City in 1862, and when he was three years old he and his parents moved to Coney Island. He married Mary O'Donnell and had four children: Edward Tilyou, Eileen Tilyou McAllister, George C. Tilyou II, and Marie Tilyou. He started various family businesses within Coney Island but his most successful venture was the Steeplechase Amusement Park and the creation of the “funny face” logo.
After moving to Coney Island, George’s parents, Peter Tilyou and Ellen Mahoney Tilyou built and ran the Surf House, a beachfront restaurant in Coney Island that also rented bathing suits to visitors. As a child, George used his natural business savvy and sold “authentic beach sand” and “authentic salt water” to tourists on the boardwalk. On his first day, George earned $13.45, which would be more than $300 today.
When George was twenty years old, he and his father built Coney Island’s first theater, Tilyou’s Surf Theater, and modeled it after the Bowery District in New York City. Not long after, the theater became the hub of Coney Island.
George and his father were reformers, and due to moral values and good business sense, they fought against the corrupt politician John Y. McKane, and George was the only witness willing to testify against McKane. When McKane wasn’t convicted, George and his family had to flee Coney Island for their safety. Years later, McKane was arrested and convicted for voter fraud and rigging elections, and the Tilyous returned. George became the justice of the peace as a reward for his bravery and cooperation with the Brooklyn reformers.
After his marriage to Mary O’Donnell in 1893, the pair spent their honeymoon in Chicago to see the World’s Columbian Exposition. George was so impressed by the Ferris Wheel, that he offered to buy it, but it had already been sold. He retuned to Coney Island, bought a plot of land and put up the sign: “On this Site Will Be Erected the World’s Largest Ferris Wheel.” Although it wasn’t the largest in the world, Tilyou did build a Ferris Wheel that became the city’s main attraction.
His next business venture was the Steeplechase Amusement Park, a family-friendly enclosed park that charged admission and took tickets for rides. The main ride was the Steeplechase Horses, a gravity driven ride where people raced around 6 parallel tracks on wooden horses.
Throughout the years, Steeplechase had its fair share of problems, including fires and flooding, but it survived until 1964, when Marie Tilyou closed and sold the park to the city. Though Steeplechase Amusement Park has been torn down, the Tilyou name and legacy lives on.
Tilyou Family Collection
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