for Six Flags Over Texas After a visit to
Disneyland in
Anaheim, California, shortly after its opening, a wealthy real estate developer,
Angus G. Wynne Jr., concluded that his home state,
Texas, should have a similar park. Planning for such a place began in 1959, under the leadership of Wynne and the Great Southwest Corporation, along with the backing of various
New York City investors. Construction of the park began in August 1960. The name "Six Flags Over Texas" refers to
the flags of the six nations that have governed Texas:
Spain,
France,
Mexico, the
Republic of Texas, the
United States of America, and the
Confederate States of America. Wynne originally intended to name the park "Texas Under Six Flags". Various legends have attributed the name change to his wife, Joann; to the
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, of which his wife may have been a member; and to his entertainment director, Charles Meeker, who is said to have stated "Texas isn't 'under' anything." The original park was divided into six themed areas for each of the six entities that had ruled Texas. Other themed areas have since been added. Six Flags Over Texas opened its gates from July 29 to August 4, 1961, to several local corporations that Wynne had invited as part of a "soft-test opening". The park held its grand-opening ceremonies on Saturday, August 5, 1961. Dignitaries included the mayors of Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Irving. there were 46 "major attractions". The park's first season, lasting 45 days and ending on November 25, 1961, was a success, with over 550,000 visitors. During its first decade, the park added two sections:
Boomtown, named after the boomtowns that sprang up quickly during Texas' oil boom era and the "Tower Section", named after the
Oil Derrick observation tower built in 1969. The park also added two attractions:
El Aserradero in 1963 and the
Runaway Mine Train roller coaster in 1966. Attendance reached close to 2 million visitors a year by the end of the decade. In 1974, Six Flags Over Texas announced attendance had reached 2,184,000. For the 50th anniversary (2011), Six Flags Over Texas introduced the first
I-Box roller coaster track with a transformation of Texas Giant. The reception from the conversion led the manufacturer to bring the new technology all over the world. During this time, Six Flags (the company) began to remove licensed theming from its theme parks, including from attractions that the park had built in previous years. For example, Six Flags Over Texas had to rename Tony Hawk's Big Spin to
Pandemonium. In 2020, park management decided to expand from a March-December operating season to year-round operations. But on March 13, 2020, Six Flags suspended operations on its properties for the
COVID-19 pandemic in Texas. During the closure, the park donated food and supplies to local charities. The park reopened to members and season pass holders on June 19 and to the general public on June 22. The park stopped accepting cash in 2025. To assist with the transition, kiosks were added for attendees to convert cash into prepaid debit cards for park purchases.
Confederate themes For more than three decades, one of the original themed areas was The Confederacy, which showcased Civil War re-enactments and displayed the
Confederate battle flag. In the 1990s, it was rethemed as "Old South" and all Confederate battle flags were removed. The shift drew little attention as there were no high-profile rides in that area. However, the Confederate "stars and bars" remained one of the six flags that was flown at the park entrance. == Attractions ==