Deno's Wonder Wheel: The 1920 Eccentric Skyline Icon
Why is it significant?
Gaze up at the colossal steel spiderweb of Deno's Wonder Wheel, soaring one hundred and fifty feet above the boardwalk at West Twelfth Street.
Key Facts
| Place | Deno's Wonder Wheel: The 1920 Eccentric Skyline Icon |
|---|---|
| Address | 1025 Boardwalk & W 12th St, Brooklyn, NY 11224, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.57400, -73.97920 |
| Part of Walk | New York: Coney Island Boardwalk and Vintage Amusements |
| Generated | Generated |
Gaze up at the colossal steel spiderweb of Deno's Wonder Wheel, soaring one hundred and fifty feet above the boardwalk at West Twelfth Street. Completed on Memorial Day in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company and designed by inventor Charles Hermann, this is widely considered the most extraordinary and beloved Ferris wheel in the world. Weighing two hundred tons, it is constructed from Bethlehem steel forged during the industrial zenith of post-World War I America.
What makes the Wonder Wheel uniquely thrilling is its patented eccentric design. While eight blue passenger cars remain fixed to the outer steel rim, sixteen red and white cars sit on curved interior tracks. As the giant wheel turns, gravity causes these swinging interior cars to plunge suddenly downward along the track toward the center of the wheel with an exhilarating swoop, evoking terrified shrieks of delight from riders before rocking gently to a stop. The wheel stands as an enduring tribute to romantic devotion and mechanical ingenuity, carrying each new generation of dreamers into the Brooklyn skies above the breaking ocean surf.
The wheel has an extraordinary safety record: in over a century of continuous daily operation and more than forty million passengers, it has never experienced a single serious mechanical failure or passenger accident. In 1948, Greek immigrant Denos Vourderis proposed to his sweetheart Lula, promising that if he ever made his fortune, he would buy her the Wonder Wheel. In 1983, after decades of running boardwalk food concessions, he fulfilled that romantic vow, purchasing the wheel to keep it in family hands.
At the pinnacle of the rotation, riders enjoy a breathtaking view stretching from the Statue of Liberty to the Atlantic horizon.
Walk half a block north on West Twelfth Street to Surf Avenue, where the colorful banners of Coney Island USA celebrate the oddities of American sideshow.