In the year 1961, a man named Angus G. Wynne opened a theme park in Arlington, Texas, not knowing the impact that his move would have on the amusement and theme park industry in the years to come. Inspired by Disneyland, the park would become the first to combine themes with thrillrides, and two years in the making, it opened to guests on August 5th of 1961. Named Six Flags over Texas, the theme park consisted of six sections themed after six countries which have flown their flags over the state of Texas, and as Six Flags over Texas would expand, Six Flags would eventually become the single largest chain of theme parks in the world and an internationally recognized name.

   The six areas, Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, Confederacy, and Modern, were home to a dozen rides in the first season including a steel-tracked wild mouse then known as Sidewinder, several flat rides, multiple forms of park transportation, a car ride, and a water ride, among other attractions. Several new rides arrived the second year, and Sidewinder was reintroduced in the Mexico section as La Cucaracha.

   Six Flags over Texas received another section in 1963 with the addition of Boomtown, along with the park's first log flume, with the following year bringing a dark water ride following the demolition of the park's La Cucaracha coaster, and a new spinning ride added the next season. But after two coasterless seasons, a major addition came when Arrow Dynamics introduced their very first mine train-type steel coaster in 1966 at the park with Runaway Mine Train (later shortened to Mine Train).

   Several changes and additions came over the next two years including a new log flume, and in 1969 the Over Texas skyline would be changed forever by the 30-story Oil Derrick observation tower dominating over the Confederacy section, complete with a slide descending from several stories up the structure. A second coaster also arrived that year with the Mini-Mine Train, located adjacent to the larger ride.

   In 1971, the Schwarzkopf-designed steel coaster Big Bend became Six Flags over Texas' largest thrillride, twisting and turning through 2,876 feet of track and climbing two spiral lifts, one topping out at 81 feet. Good Times Square became the park's eigth themed area two years later and the home of two new flat rides. For the 1976 season, a 20-story parachute tower dubbed Texas Chute-Out landed, and then 1978 brought SFoT's fourth steel coaster track: Shockwave, a double-looping Schwarzkopf coaster with top speeds of sixty miles an hour.

   Although one coaster was lost in 1979 when Big Bend departed. Judge Roy Scream, the park's first wooden track, was rolled out the next year, comprised of 2,670 feet of out and back track running along the side of a lake. An Intamin AG First-Generation Freefall arrived in 1982 named Texas Cliffhanger (later changed to Wildcatter). Another major water ride was added with 1983's Roaring Rapids, and a new kids' area that same year, and the Air Racer vertical plane ride introduced the following season.

   The Sarajevo Bobsleds became Six Flags over Texas' fifth coaster in 1986, shipped to the park from California's Six Flags Magic Mountain, and 1987 brought the Splash Down Falls water ride (renamed Splashwater) on the former site of Big Bend. Two years ahead, Flashback arrived as one of Vekoma's 'Boomerang' steel shuttle-looping models. The 1990s were kicked off as the world's largest wooden coaster, the five and a half million-dollar Texas Giant put the park in the international coaster spotlight, with a twisting 4,920 feet of track designed by Curtis Summers and Charles Dinn.Six Flags over Texas coasted on the success of Texas Giant and after several off-seasons for new attractions, 1995 brought a new motion simulator attraction, with the next year bringing an enclosed family coaster from Premier Rides, Runaway Mountain, and a 15-story Skycoaster ride. A second Premier steel coaster arrived for 1998, but this time a 22-story, LIM-propelled steel shuttle-looping ride named Mr. Freeze. Just the next year, Bolliger and Mabillard's inverted looping Batman: the Ride flew in next to Mr. Freeze in a new themed section, Gotham City, replacing Good Times Square.

   For the Texas park's 40th year of operation in 2001, the region's largest steel coaster opened as Titan, with a 255-foot plunge and 5,312 feet of Giovanola-crafted track, along with a new junior coaster - Wile E. Coyote's Grand Canyon Blaster. And two years later, Superman: Tower of Power blasted skyward for the first time as the tallest vertical thrillride tower complex of its kind, and tallest ride in the park, at 315 feet in height, with plenty of more thrills in store for the park's future.2