Women in bathing suits striking poses. Due to Coney Island's proximity to Manhattan and other boroughs it began attracting vacationers in the 1830s and 1840s. Between about 1880 and WWII, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. At its height, it contained three competing major amusement parks, Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park, as well as many independent amusements. When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company electrified the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of the 20th century, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to an accessible location for day-trippers seeking to escape the summer heat in New York City's tenements. Stereograph by Strohmeyer & Wyman, 1898.