July 1, 1974: Great Adventure Opens

July 1, 1974, 50 years ago: The Great Adventure theme park opens in Jackson, Ocean County, New Jersey, about 60 miles southwest of Midtown Manhattan, and 50 miles northeast of Center City Philadelphia.

It took the place of such already-gone amusement parks as Steeplechase Park in Brooklyn's Coney Island (which closed in 1964, leaving Astroland as Coney's only remaining amusement park), Palisades Amusement Park in the town of the same name in Bergen County (closed in 1971), and Woodside Amusement Park in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park (closed in 1955). It essentially meant the demise of Willow Grove Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1975. But it also meant a closer option for Philadelphia-area people than the Jersey Shore, 60 miles away at its closest point.

New York businessman Warner LeRoy bought the land from the parachute-making Switlik family, and built the park. The main part of the park was called the Enchanted Forest, and it included roller coasters, a log flume, a monorail, and Wild West-themed rides. Its arcades and eateries, including the ice cream-themed Yum Yum Palace, and its drive-through safari, became beloved by young people in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

In 1977, the Six Flags amusement-park company bought Great Adventure. A deal was cut with Warner Brothers to have their cartoon characters, like Bugs Bunny, in costumes. They also cut deals with DC Comics for rides based on their characters, such as Superman and Batman.

The classic rainbow & stars logo

On May 11, 1984, a fire at the Haunted Castle killed 8 teenagers from Queens, and forever cast a pall over the park. But it remains open to this day.

It's hard to believe it's been 50 years. It doesn't seem like something that goes back as far as Richard Nixon. To me, it will always bring up thoughts of the late 1970s, the Jimmy Carter years, or the early 1980s, the 1st Ronald Reagan term. It was an escape from the nonsense of the outside world, which was probably why that '84 fire stands out so much in New Jersey's collective memory: The outside world broke through the bubble.

A wonderland carved out of the Pine Barrens, for, as the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus put it, "children of all ages." To this day, many of us refuse to use the corporate name of Six Flags. The original name was perfect: Great Adventure.