Today in History: First roller coaster opened in America
The first roller coaster ever built in America was opened as long ago as 1884.
Roller coasters are a global theme park and entertainment phenomenon in the modern world, and their roots in America can be traced all the way back to 1884.
The first roller coaster in America opened at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Known as a switchback railway, it was the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, travelled approximately six miles per hour (9,6km/h) and cost a nickel to ride.
The new entertainment was an instant success and by the turn of the century there were hundreds of roller coasters around the country.
Coney Island, a name believed to have come from the Dutch ‘Konijn Eilandt’, or Rabbit Island, is a tract of land along the Atlantic Ocean discovered by explorer Henry Hudson in 1609.
The first hotel opened at Coney Island in 1829 and by the post-Civil War years, the area was an established resort, with theatres, restaurants and 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. However, 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 roller coaster that made its debut in 1927.
Capable of speeds of 60mph (96,5km/h), the Cyclone is one of the America’s oldest roller coasters still in operation.
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 (1,2km) 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.
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