above, An advertising Card featuring the famed little people General Mite and Lucia Zarate.

William A. Engeman, an entrepreneur who made his fortune during the Civil War, purchased several hundred acres of oceanfront property for $20,000 and named the area Brighton Beach after the famous English beach town, Brighton.

In 1878, Engeman created the 2-story Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion and Ocean Pier, which accommodated 1,200 bathers. At the Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion, visitors entered the Midget's Palace to enjoy a performance by the Lilliputian Opera Company. In 1883, G. B. Bunnell opened a "dime museum" next door. His Brighton Museum showcased a "Convention of Curiosities" which included Colonel Routh Goshen, billed as 11 feet tall, and known as the "Palestine Giant"; Major Tot, who weighed 10 and a half pounds; Richard James, the fat boy who was "9 feet around the waist"; and Miss Nellie Walter, the albino lady.

The Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion also featured an arched "bathing bridge" that extended out over the sand to the ocean's edge. At the end of the bridge he installed an electric light that permitted night bathing. The sport of "electric bathing" became very popular with those ever eager to try new things.

(Above adapted from http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ourbrooklyn/brightonbeach/)