1208 Surf Avenue
Home of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, the Freak Bar, and the Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Avenue has long been a part of Coney Island’s iconic landscape. Built in 1917, it’s seen many changes and weathered many storms before becoming the home of freaks, mermaids, and Coney Island USA.
On October 11, 2025, Coney Island USA will unveil a plaque mounted on the facade of the building issued by the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation, in recognition of the building’s landmarked status granted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2011. It’s a fitting tribute to the building’s long and storied past.
Built in 1917 and operating until 1943, this was the first of two Childs restaurants in Coney Island. The pioneering Childs restaurant chain was established by Samuel and William Childs in 1898 with the mission to provide healthy and affordable family fare. The building was designed by the Childs in-house architect, John C. Westervelt, in the Spanish Revival style, with decorative terracotta exterior elements and the white tiled interiors that were trademarked features of the chain.
When W.12th Street was widened in 1923, the structure was actually lifted off of its foundation and moved west on Surf Avenue.
View of Surf Avenue looking east.
In 1923, the Childs family opened a second restaurant in Coney Island, larger and more upscale, on the newly constructed Reigelmann Boardwalk. With the success of their Boardwalk restaurant, the Childs family closed the venue on Surf Avenue in 1943. The building was then leased to the Falcon family in 1944, who renamed it the Blue Bird Casino.
Don’t be fooled by the name — it was NOT a gambling establishment, but rather, a bar and restaurant. It was also a very popular place to hear live music, from honky-tonk cowboys crooning, to boogie-woogie and bluesmen “laying it down”. According to legend, this was where Bettie Page, the iconic “ Pin-Up Queen” was discovered.
Daily News, New York • Fri, Jun 30, 1944
Left: The Wonderland Circus Sideshow
In 1951, the Falcon family lost their liquor license (allegedly for selling alcohol to a minor), and the Blue Bird Casino closed. In 1953, the building became the home of David Rosen’s Wonderland Circus Sideshow, sharing the site with the Surf Club (a strip club) and Coney Island Freddy’s Tattoo Parlor.
Painted murals on the wall, leftovers from the defunct Surf Club, upstairs in the Coney Island Museum. The murals have been left intact, but covered over.
By the early 1960’s, Coney Island had entered a period of economic recession. The loss of Luna Park (1944) and Steeplechase (1964) had changed the landscape and diminished the footprint of the amusement district, and the migration of middle class families away from urban areas had impacted local businesses by reducing visitors. By 1965, and for the next forty years, 1208 Surf Avenue was occupied by a series of short-term businesses, including several game arcades (Pinto Brothers, Jazz’s, and Enterprise); a Subway sandwich shop; and an Army recruitment center, reflecting the neighborhood's decline.
Jazz’s Arcade, c. 1986
In 1996, the building became the headquarters of the not-for-profit arts organization Coney Island USA. The organization acquired the property in 2008 and transformed the building into an arts space dedicated to preserving Coney Island's history and culture.
The building now features performances by the world famous Coney Island Circus Sideshow in the Sideshows By the Seashore Theater; the Coney Island Museum, and the kitschy-cool Freak Bar. In 2011, the building was granted landmarked status by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Committee, making it the oldest structure in Coney Island to be protected by law for future generations.
Photo by Norman Blake.