During the 1840’s, the first visitors came onto the shore of a small piece of land in what is now Warwick, Rhode Island. Captain William Winslow let passengers off his ship to enjoy a Sunday outing on the beach and surrounding fields. In 1847, the Captain purchased a share of the land. He began to make regular stops and soon built attractions such as rides and restaurants for shore dinners. When Captain Winslow died, Colonel Harrington took over, and the area had already become known to its guests as Rocky Point. Rocky Point became more popular with the coming of a train, which arrived full of enthusiastic guests from Providence. The Park now boasted several rides and attractions such as a Ferris wheel and swings the park even boasted its own hotel. In 1883, Rocky Point hit its first hard times, when a fire struck the park and burned down many of the attractions, including the hotel. Undaunted, Harrington moved on and rebuilt the park to its former glory. In 1918, he dubbed Rocky Point “New England’s most beautiful amusement park”. With more and more eager fans flowing through the gates, Col. Harrington was forced to supply new and exciting rides for his guests. In 1926 the Wildcat Roller Coaster opened up. Designed by Herbert Schmeck and manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, the wooden Wildcat took Rocky Point excitement to a new level, tossing and turning its riders in every direction seemingly getting more and more out of control by the second. With the enormous success of the Wildcat, Rocky Point re-commissioned Schmeck and Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters to design a new ride. To help with the designs, Schmeck paired with another designer, Norman Bartlett. Together, Schmeck and Bartlett designed a Bobsled type roller coaster, which was opened in 1931. The ride, dubbed “The Flying Turns”, featured a replica bobsled run with banked turns and no track for the cars to sit. Rocky Point also added a saltwater pool and a miniature railroad to the park during this time. In 1938, however, tragedy struck Rocky Point and New England. The Hurricane of ’38 hit on September 21 killing over 600 people, with another 100 unaccounted for, destroying or damaging 8,000 homes, 6,000 boats, and both of Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Rocky Point rides. In all, the storm caused an estimated $300 million in damages and set the all time record for wind speed with a gust of 186 mph recorded at the Blue Hills Observatory in Massachusetts. The hurricane closed Rocky Point for nine years.

Golden Years

In 1948 Rocky Point reopened and began to rebuild as it entered its golden age as an amusement park. Beginning in 1948 and ending in the early 1990’s, Rocky Point added a plethora of new and exciting thrill rides. They installed rides such as the Flume, Skywheel, Tilt-a-Whirl, Musik Express, Sky Diver, Skyliner, Apollo 11, the Spider, Roto Jets, a House of Horror, the Scrambler, the Enterprise, bumper cars, Rok n’ Roll, the Yo-yo, and the Tempest. To replace the roller coasters they lost during the storm, Rocky Point brought in the Cyclone from Riverside Park (now Six Flags NE), MA in 1983. The Cyclone took its riders down three vertical drops reaching speeds of over 55 mph before rushing through two corkscrews sending them off balance and disoriented for the remainder of the ride. The following year, the Corkscrew was completed. Designed by Arrow, the Corkscrew featured a 64-foot drop into three inversions both exciting and scaring those brave enough to ride it. In 1988, however, Rocky Point added its most exhilarating thrill ride. The Free Fall, fresh off an accident in its former home park of Six Flags Great America, when three teenagers were injured, was moved into Rocky Point. The Free Fall took four passengers up a 12 and a half story vertical section of track. The riders were then dropped, falling straight down as they experienced nearly two seconds of weightlessness before ending up on their backs.

The Fall of Rocky Point

Rocky Point Park was the second oldest operating park in the U.S., Lake Compounce being the first, but the beginning of the end was on November 7, 1994, when the state of Rhode Island suspended Rocky Point’s permit to sell concessions for lack to pay back taxes. Although the permit was reinstated a few days later, it was under the condition that Rocky Point pay its taxes by December 1. On December 2, after failing to pay their taxes, Rocky Point filed for bankruptcy. The auction date was set for April 16 and 17, 1996, when all of Rocky Point’s rides, stalls, tables, chairs and the any other of the park’s possessions could be bought. After the auction, with most of the rides disassembled and shipped to other parks around the country and around the world, the park sat barren, like a ghost town, while the its creditors and the state decided on its uncertain future. On July 29, 2003, the United States Small Business Association bought the parcel of land, which was Rocky Point, for $8.5 million. The residents of Warwick worry that the land will be sold to a real estate brokerage and condominiums will be built over the foundations of popular Rocky Point rides. Citizens still hold out hope, however, for a move by the state or another source to save at least part of the land, including the beach front, for public use and to keep the Rocky Point legacy alive.

Editors note:  More has happened since this article was written.  Click here for an update.