With the new exhibit Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland at the Brooklyn Museum, it seemed like an appropriate time to talk about the first escalator, which was installed in Coney Island in 1896. This was the era of invention around the world and Jesse W. Reno, who patented his “continuous elevator” or the “inclined elevator” in 1892, also designed such things as a submersible vehicle for salvaging shipwrecks, an early version of an aircraft carrier, and an electric rail system for the United States. The escalator came out of Reno’s plans for a double-decker subway in New York City which never came to be.
The post Cities 101: The First Working Escalator Was Installed in Coney Island, Brooklyn first appeared on Untapped Cities.