TODAY ONLY
January 20
Roller Coaster Patented
On this day in 1885, the roller coaster was patented by La Marcus Thompson of Coney Island, NY. His coaster was 450 feet long; the highest drop was 30 feet. A year earlier, Thompson built his Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway at Coney Island, New York. For a nickel, riders could ride. His Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway started a series of similar rides. La Marcus Thompson went on to build 24 more roller coasters.
Cheap Thrills? At a nickel a head, in less than three weeks, Thompson made back the entire $1,600 he invested in the railway.
Who Was La Marcus Thompson? Commonly referred to as The Father of the Roller Coaster, Thompson was a born inventor. At the age of 12, he designed and built a butter churn and an oxcart. By the time he was 17, he was a master carpenter. He made a fortune as a manufacturer of women's seamless hosiery. After a near nervous breakdown in the early 1880s, Thompson sold his hosiery company and went back to inventing.
Inspiration Strikes. Thompson was inspired by a ride years earlier on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania. He went on to build his own highly successful Switchback at Coney Island in 1884. Within four years, he had built about 50 more across the nation and in Europe.
Other Inventors, Other Roller Coasters. Thompson's monopoly on the roller coaster industry was short-lived. Soon other inventors released their own roller coasters. One was another scenic railway on which riders would slowly weave through the wood structure, admiring the view. Another, in San Francisco, was a coaster that was almost twice the size of an earlier coaster, and was a thrill ride.
Using His Brains. La Marcus Thompson went on to found a company that created and sold ideas for roller coasters. The basic concept of his mechanical lift system, anti-roll back wheels, and the use of three wheels to hold the coasters back from flying off of the tracks is still used by many coasters today.