In the 1880's, a farmer named James Parker lived a few miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio. He came to realize that his apple orchard, in a scenic spot on the riverbank, earned more money when he rented it out for church picnics and other excursions that it ever could by growing apples. So in 1886 he sold the land to a riverboat company, who opened it as "Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West." An advertsing poster from that year boasted that the grounds were lighted by electricity, and proclaimed it "The Most Beautiful All-Day Summer Resort in America." The steamboat company ran four round trips a day between Cincinnati and "Coney Island," as the park came to be known. The total price (in 1886) was 50 cents, including admission to the grounds AND round-trip steamboat transportation. Coney Island finally closed its gates in 1971, to be replaced by the more modern Kings Island amusement park the following season.
The Island Queen and Coney Island were both part of Ohio valley lore
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