People on a roller coaster at Coney Island, 1954 Photo: Courtesy of Cincinnati Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Department

The news of Coney Island being sold to be demolished and turned into a music arena crushed many in Cincinnati who hold fond memories of the nearly 140-year-old amusement park. Now, two locals to whom Coney Island is near and dear and a Cincinnati publishing company are working on a book to enshrine those memories forever.

Briton Publishing announced that it will be working with Katy Mark, the former group sales executive at Coney Island, and Rob Lowe, whose father, Bob Lowe, was captain of the guards for 50 years, on the new book To Coney, With Love. The book will be a collection of stories curated from the public on what made Coney Island and Sunlite Pool special to them.

“We need Cincinnatians to step up and help us. Share with us old memories, new memories, simple thoughts, expanded stories,” Briton Publishing shared in a news release. “We want to learn about the impact that one place has had on so many lives. Was Coney Island your first job? Did your grandparents meet there? Were you married at Moonlite Gardens? History is important but it’s the memories that will live in our hearts. We want to put that feeling in print, so it continues on for generations.”

If you have a story, memory or thought about Coney Island to share for print, you can submit that on britonpublishing.com under “Submissions.”

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And if you have photos of Coney Island you would like to share, the Cincinnati Public Library is collecting those for its digital archives. The library already has a collection of old photos of Coney Island on its website but is looking to add more. If you have original photos of Coney Island, you can submit digital copies for possible inclusion in the archive by direct messaging the library on social media or emailing research@chpl.org. The library asks you to include any known dates, names and descriptions.

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This article appears in Mar 6-19, 2024.

Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she...