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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show that rides the rails of history one day at

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Speaker 1: a time. I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're talking about

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Speaker 1: the birth of Six Flags over Texas, including how it

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Speaker 1: got its name and why it became a model for

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Speaker 1: the many regional theme parks to come. The day was

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Speaker 1: August first, nineteen sixty one, the original Six Flags theme

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Speaker 1: park had its soft opening in Arlington, Texas. At the time,

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Speaker 1: it was the first and only theme park in the state,

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Speaker 1: acclaim to fame that helped put Arlington on the map

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Speaker 1: as more than just a waypoint between Fort Worth and Dallas.

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Speaker 1: The band opening was held four days later on August fifth,

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Speaker 1: and its entire first season lasted just forty five days.

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Speaker 1: During that brief span, however, more than five hundred thousand

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Speaker 1: guests visited the park, ensuring that the first six Flags

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Speaker 1: would not be the last. The original park was the

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Speaker 1: brainchild of Texas oilman and real estate developer Angus Wynn Junior.

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Speaker 1: After paying a visit to Disneyland in nineteen fifty nine,

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Speaker 1: Wynn was inspired to create his own park closer to home.

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Speaker 1: He kept his ambitions in check, though, recognizing that unlike Disney,

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Speaker 1: he didn't have a steady stream of films and TV

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Speaker 1: shows to attract a national audience. Instead, Wynn would strive

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Speaker 1: to create a park primarily for the people of Texas.

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Speaker 1: This concept would later become known as a regional or

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Speaker 1: seasonal theme park. Such parks cater to a mostly local

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Speaker 1: audience and operate on a seasonal basis daily during the summer,

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Speaker 1: on weekends during the spring and fall, and not at

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Speaker 1: all during the winter. Seasonal parks tend to be more

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Speaker 1: modest in scope compared to their year round cousins, and

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Speaker 1: typically have a smaller budget to match. For instance, Disneyland

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Speaker 1: had cost about seventeen million dollars to build in the

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Speaker 1: mid nineteen fifties, whereas Win only spend ten million on

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Speaker 1: the first Six Flags. He partnered with the Great Southwest

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Speaker 1: Corporation to secure funding for the project, and construction began

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Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty. The park was set to be built

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Speaker 1: on a one hundred and five acre vacant lot in Arlington,

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Speaker 1: though the parcel would later be expanded to two hundred

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Speaker 1: and twelve acres. Most Six Flags parks today would be

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Speaker 1: considered amusement parks rather than theme parks. Although their various

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Speaker 1: roller coasters and flat rides may have themes of their own,

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Speaker 1: the parks themselves have a largely generic, carnival like atmosphere

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Speaker 1: and don't feature the level of immersion that cases a

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Speaker 1: true theme park. However, the original Six Flags was a

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Speaker 1: different story. It was themed to the history of Texas

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Speaker 1: and featured six distinct lands, one for each of the

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Speaker 1: six sovereign nations that had laid claim to Texas prior

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Speaker 1: to it becoming a state. The countries in question were Spain, France, Mexico,

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Speaker 1: the Confederacy Texas, which was its own country for a

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Speaker 1: hot minute, and lastly the United States. The park's name

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Speaker 1: comes from the six flags of those countries, which were

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Speaker 1: flown above the park during its early years of operation.

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Speaker 1: At first, when considered calling the park Texas under six Flags,

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Speaker 1: but after deciding that Texas should never be under anything,

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Speaker 1: he settled on six Flags over Texas instead. Later, after

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Speaker 1: more parks had been built, the name was shortened to

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Speaker 1: just six Flags, and the flags of the different nations

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Speaker 1: were replaced with non specific flags of solid colors, a

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Speaker 1: smart move, considering one of the originals was the Confederate Flag.

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Speaker 1: The original parks, rides, and attractions were split between its

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Speaker 1: six themed areas and were meant to represent the various

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Speaker 1: cultures that had once lived there, with cowboys, Native Americans, pirates,

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Speaker 1: and Southern bells being especially well accounted for. In another

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Speaker 1: break from the Six Flags we know today, the original

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Speaker 1: park wasn't dominated by roller coasters and other thrill rides. Instead,

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Speaker 1: it offered a more diverse slate of attractions, many of

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Speaker 1: which took inspiration from those found at Disneyland. For example,

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Speaker 1: there was LaSalle's Riverboat Adventure similar to Jungle Crews, the

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Speaker 1: Happy Motoring Freeway, a take on Disney's Autopia, and the

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Speaker 1: Six Flags Railroad, which circled the perimeter of the park

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Speaker 1: just like at Disneyland. That said, Six Flags Over Texas

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Speaker 1: did distinguish itself in the coming years, eventually adding the

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Speaker 1: first modern log flume ride as well as the first

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Speaker 1: mine train ride. The park was also a pioneer when

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Speaker 1: it came to pricing. At the time of its opening,

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Speaker 1: most amusement parks and theme parks Disneyland included used an

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Speaker 1: a la carte pricing system. Guests had to pay an

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Speaker 1: admission fee to enter the park, and then had to

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Speaker 1: buy individual tickets for whichever rides they wanted to go on.

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Speaker 1: Six Flags Over Texas did away with that model in

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Speaker 1: favor of an all inclusive price. During its opening year,

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Speaker 1: a day at the park would cost visitors just two

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Speaker 1: dollars and seventy five cents for an adult ticket and

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Speaker 1: two dollars and twenty five cents for a child's ticket,

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Speaker 1: a real bargain considering you could ride any attraction as

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Speaker 1: much as you wanted. Angus Wynn Junior had envisioned Six

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Speaker 1: Flags as a short term investment, a way to put

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Speaker 1: some vacant land to use for a few years before

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Speaker 1: inevitably turning it into an industrial complex. He thought better

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Speaker 1: of that strategy, however, after making back his personal investment

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Speaker 1: of three and a half million dollars within eighteen months

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Speaker 1: of the park's opening, Six Flags was allowed to stay

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Speaker 1: put from then on and quickly became the number one

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Speaker 1: for profit tourist attraction in the entire state of Texas.

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Speaker 1: It welcomed seventeen and a half million visitors in its

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Speaker 1: first decade and now draws an average of more than

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Speaker 1: three million people each year. The majority of its early

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Speaker 1: attractions have long since been cleared away in favor of

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Speaker 1: the company's signature thrill rides, though old school fans will

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Speaker 1: be happy to hear that the park's original steam engine

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Speaker 1: is still chugging along. Angus Winn never demolished Six Flags,

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Speaker 1: as he had planned to, but in nineteen sixty nine

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Speaker 1: he did sell his stake in it. The company was

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Speaker 1: then expanded, rebranded, and re sold several times in the

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Speaker 1: decades that followed, and while its status as a theme

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Speaker 1: park is up for debate, it's nonetheless considered the largest

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Speaker 1: regional theme park company in the world, with more than

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Speaker 1: twenty five parks throughout North America. None of those locations

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Speaker 1: are national draws in themselves, but when taken together, the

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Speaker 1: Six Flags Empire now spans three different countries, the US, Mexico,

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Speaker 1: and Canada. That's an impressive international footprint given the park's

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Speaker 1: humble beginnings, though of course Disney still has a beat

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Speaker 1: on that count as well. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully

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Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than

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Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you want to keep up with

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Speaker 1: the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and

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Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC show, and if you have any

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Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can always send them my way

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Speaker 1: by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks

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Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to

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Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow

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Speaker 1: for another day in History class