On June 16, 1884, the first roller coaster in America opened at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Unlike the roller coasters we are familiar with today, this one was known as a switchback railway, and it traveled approximately six miles an hour. Created by LaMarcus Thompson, the rise became an instant success, resulting in hundreds of roller coasters popping up around the country by the turn of the century.
La Marcus Adna Thompson, the father of the American roller coaster, was a creative man who helped bring the American roller coaster to commercial fruition. Growing up he created many devices for his own pleasure and to aid his family. As he grew older, Thompson ran many profitable businesses, such as the Eagle Knitting Company, which did well under his leadership. All of the success put quite a strain on Thompson, and he stepped back from the financial limelight to recover and find less stressful ventures. However, no one is sure exactly why Thompson decided to go into the amusement park business.
Being the creative man he was, Thompson could not stay idle long. He created his own version of the roller coaster. It was shaped like the early Russian slides- two hills parallel to each other. Thompson added hills and the cars slowly (6 mph) rolled down a track six hundred feet long and fifty feet high. The ride made hundreds of dollars a day, an amazing feat since it only cost a nickel per-ride.
Coney Island itself is a tract of land along the Atlantic Ocean that was discovered by explorer Henry Hudson in 1609. The first hotel opened there at 1829, and by the post-Civil War years, the areas was established as a resort with theatres, restaurants, and even a race track. Between 1897 and 1904, three amusement parks sprang up at Coney Island–Dreamland, Luna Park, and Steeplechase. By the 1920s, Coney Island was reachable by subway and summer crowds of a million people a day flocked there for rides, games, sideshows, the beach, and the two-and-a-half-mile boardwalk, completed in 1923.
Roller coasters and amusement parks experienced a decline during the Great Depression and World War II, when Americans had less cash to spend on entertainment. Finally, in 1955, the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, signaled the advent of the modern theme park and a rebirth of the roller coaster. Disneyland’s success sparked a wave of new parks and coasters. By the 1970s, parks were competing to create the most thrilling rides. In 2005, Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, introduced the Kingda Ka roller coaster, the world’s tallest (at 456 feet) and fastest (at 128 mph).
By the mid-1960s, the major amusement parks at Coney Island had shut down and the area acquired a seedy image. Nevertheless, Coney Island remains a tourist attraction and home to the Cyclone, a wooden coaster that made its debut there in 1927. Capable of speeds of 60 mph and with an 85-foot drop, the Cyclone is one of the country’s oldest coasters in operation today. Though a real-estate developer recently announced the building of a new $1.5 billion year-round resort at Coney Island that will include a 4,000-foot-long roller coaster, an indoor water park, and a multi-level carousel, the Cyclone’s owners have said they plan to keep the historic coaster open for business.
