An early attempt to bring a similar ride to the US in 1848 failed because of an accident during the trial run. It would fall to an American inventor named LaMarcus Thompson to revolutionize the amusement industry in the US, earning him the title of the father of the American roller coaster.

The "invention" of the roller coaster is a transition from Russian winter traditions to American engineering. The earliest ancestors were the "Russian Mountains" of the 17th century—massive, ice-covered wooden slides in Saint Petersburg where people sped down in sleds. The first person to bring this concept into the modern, "wheeled" era was LaMarcus Adna Thompson, often called the "Father of the American Roller Coaster." In 1884, he opened the "Switchback Railway" at Coney Island, which was the first designed as an amusement ride in the U.S. It traveled at a whopping 6 mph and cost a nickel. However, the first "looping" coaster was built much earlier in Paris (the Promenades Aériennes in 1817), though it was incredibly dangerous. By 2026, Thompson’s legacy is celebrated at the National Roller Coaster Museum, as his design shifted the concept from a simple "ice slide" into a controlled, mechanical industry that now utilizes advanced magnetic launches and hydraulic systems to reach speeds exceeding 100 mph.