POTW: Weird Scenes along the Beach

In this Photo of the Week, we remember the storm that hit the south Brooklyn coast on October 11, 1896. To quote the Brooklyn Eagle, it was “a Remarkable Atmospheric Disturbance” that buried the old Brighton Beach Race Course under tons of sand, cut new channels to Sheepshead Bay, and left “Wierd [sic] Scenes Along the Beach.”

One of the remarkable scenes along Brighton Beach was the skeletal remains of Seidl’s Music Stand, home to the “famous” Seidl’s orchestra, whose red leather chairs could be seen bobbing in the harbor and washing ashore. Nearby, the Ocean Hotel, one of many beachside resorts, appeared so battered that Brooklynites feared it “may go down at any time” (fortunately, it held itself together). More debilitating than "weird" was the state of the Marine Railway, which connected Brighton to Manhattan. Though protected by “indestructible” bulkheads, the station was “carried out to sea and the tracks” were “washed away.”

The neighboring Manhattan Beach escaped with less damage, but was host to its own phenomenon, as described by the Eagle: 

A grander or more awe inspiring sight could not be imagined…than the waves breaking against the strong bulkheads, sending their spray hundreds of feet into the air and stirring up a phosphorescent glow, which even in the darkness of the night and the driving rain made objects visible for a considerable distance around. The sands also seemed full of phosphorescence and at each step a myriad of little sparks were stirred into life.

Sign into the Brooklyn Newsstand to catch the Eagle's full coverage of the storm.

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