Postcard: Coney Island Jockey Club At Sheepshead

While not really a postcard, I’m sticking this in with our new “Postcard” series, which saves images of the Sheepshead Bay-area that briefly appear on sites like eBay, never to be seen again.

The above is a 130-year-old wood engraving that’s been bevel-matted. It comes from an 1881 issue of Frank Leslie’s Weekly, an illustrated magazine that published from 1852 to 1922.

According to the eBay seller, who matted the antique engraving, text underneath the illustration says, “The June meeting of the Coney Island Jockey Club, at Sheepshead Bay — Taking the water-jump in the steep-chase, June 15th.”

The Sheepshead Bay Race Track, home of the Coney Island Jockey Club, was one of the premiere horse-racing facilities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its entrance was on Ocean Avenue between Avenue X and Avenue Y.

Here’s the full illustration, without cropping and including caption: