Ride America’s Most Historic Roller Coasters

Leap-the-Dips in Lakemont Park, Altoona, Pennsylvania, is the world’s oldest operating roller coaster. Rolling downhill at an average speed of 10 miles per hour, it may not be the fastest ride, but its history is unmatched. Built in 1902 by legendary roller coaster designer Edward Joy Morris, the coaster closed down in the 1980s and was nearly demolished in 1986 before being refurbished and reopened in 1999. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark, but still doesn’t have seatbelts, lapbars or headrests. It is the only side friction coaster left in North America, which means it doesn't have the extra set of wheels under the track that have become standard.

When the Jack Rabbit opened to the masses in western New York in 1920, it was the fastest roller coaster in the world, topping out at 50 miles per hour. Today, that distinction belongs to Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi (clocking in at nearly 150 miles per hour), but that doesn’t diminish the charm of this wooden ride. Located at historic Seabreeze Amusement Park outside Rochester, the Jack Rabbit is the oldest continuously operating coaster in North America. In the overhead rafters of the ride there is still an original sign that reads “pay as you leave.”

When Arthur Looff built the Giant Dipper on Santa Cruz’s boardwalk in 1924, he wanted the coaster to be a combination of an “earthquake, balloon ascension and aeroplane drop.” For over 90 years, the Giant Dipper has done exactly that for over 60 million riders, including celebrities such as Vincent Price and basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain. Befitting its existence as the oldest coaster in California, it has played parts in many Hollywood movies, including Dangerous Minds, The Lost Boys and Sudden Impact with Clint Eastwood. Today, it is one of the oldest operating coasters in the world and creates a distinctive silhouette along the Pacific Ocean during a California sunset. 

While a good deal younger than all the other coasters on this list, Batman the Ride in New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure is still historic. When it opened in 1992, it was the world’s first inverted roller coaster, meaning that riders are suspended below the track with their feet dangling. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland (known as “B&M” to coaster insiders), the revolutionary coaster set the standard for thrill rides that continues to this day. The American Coaster Enthusiasts awarded Batman the Ride landmark status in 2005, despite the fact that ride had only been around for 13 years at the time.

Simply called the “Roller Coaster,” this nine-decade-old ride is one of the last remaining examples of the work of John Miller, a noted roller coaster designer. Miller is most heralded for building the device that prevented roller coaster cars from rolling backwards down the lift hill. Now called the safety ratchet, a version of his design is still used today and gives wooden coasters that distinctive clinkety-clank sound. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, the Roller Coaster’s dips, turns and dives are framed by the idyllic Wasatch Mountains.

In 1926, the relatively short-lived Giant Racer was torn down on Coney Island to make way for what would become possibly the most famous roller coaster in history. The Coney Island Cyclone was built at a cost of $100,000, or $1.36 million in 2015 dollars. It was an immediate hit, with visitors paying 25 cents a ride. To this day, it is the second-steepest wooden roller coaster in the world and has become a New York City icon. It was nearly demolished in the late 1970s, but earned official historical status when it was listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1991. In the request for the distinction, the President of the Gravesend Historical Society wrote: “Unlike the Dodgers, the Cyclone will never leave Brooklyn.”