 New railroad lines, built after the American Civil War, served Coney Island's restaurants, hotels, bathing pavilions, theaters, the waterfront, and other attractions.A series of fires in the resorts in the 1880s and 1890s opened up large tracts of land for the development of theme parks, the first of which was Sea Lion Park in 1895.By the first decade of the 20th century, it contained three competing major amusement parks (Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park), and many independent amusements.