Six Flags New England
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| Location | Agawam, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Coordinates | 42°02′16″N 72°36′57″W / 42.0377°N 72.6157°WCoordinates: 42°02′16″N 72°36′57″W / 42.0377°N 72.6157°W |
| Owner | Six Flags |
| Opened | 1870 |
| Previous names | Gallup's Grove – 1870 to 1886 Riverside Grove – 1887 to 1911 Riverside Amusement Park– 1912 to 1999 (closed 1933-39) |
| Operating season | Mid-April through Early November |
| Area | 235 acres (95 ha) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 60+ |
| Roller coasters | 11 |
| Water rides | 2 |
| Website | Official Website |
| Six Flags Hurricane Harbor | |
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| Owner | Six Flags |
Six Flags New England (SFNE) is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts. Dating to the late 1800s, it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain. Superman the Ride (formerly Bizarro) is among the park's most notable rides having appeared in every Golden Ticket Awards publication by Amusement Today, ranking first or second in the Top Steel Roller Coasters category from 2001 to 2015, and third in 2016.
Throughout most of the 20th century, the park was known as Riverside Park. It started out as a picnic grove called Gallup's Grove in 1870, and was eventually renamed Riverside Grove, then Riverside Park. Prior to 1900, most of the park's patrons arrived via steamship. The Springfield Street Railway extended its line to the park in 1900 and, although Riverside was at the end of the Springfield Street Railway, it was not owned by the railway and is, therefore, not considered a trolley park, contrary to published reports.
In the early 1900s, a few mechanical rides and a carousel were added. The park was purchased in 1911 by Henry J. Perkins who transformed the park from a picnic grove to an amusement park. He built the park's first roller coaster, The Giant Dip, in 1912, which proved to be so popular that another coaster, The Greyhound, was added in 1915. Under Perkins' ownership, the park continued to prosper and additional amusements were added, including a 300-foot-diameter pool that became known as Lake Takadip. The original Giant Dip coaster was replaced in 1920 by a new, more thrilling coaster that was twice the size of the Giant and was eventually named Lightning. A third coaster, Whirlwind Racer, was added in 1928.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 took its toll on the park, and by 1931 it had gone into foreclosure. For the 1932 season, the park operated only Wednesday through Sunday, and in 1933 it closed. Several attempts to reopen the park failed and it remained closed through 1939, although the grounds were occasionally used for company picnics. A drive-in movie theater operated in the parking lot from 1937 to 1939.
Edward Carroll Sr. purchased the abandoned park in 1939 and after making improvements, reopened Riverside Park on May 29, 1940. Carroll is credited with rescuing Riverside and turning it into the largest theme park in New England. He purchased the plans and cars of the 1939 New York World's Fair Cyclone Roller Coaster and opened a new coaster in 1941. That coaster, now known as Thunderbolt, is operating at the park, and is the oldest coaster within the Six Flags Chain of theme parks. The park continued to add new rides and removed some older ones. The theater and bowling alley were removed in the late 1950s, making Riverside Park a seasonal attraction.
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Wikipedia