Home / Decades
A century of thrills

Coasters by decade.

From the wooden out-and-back coasters of the 1920s golden age through the modern launched steel of the 2020s — every decade has its own engineering signature.

Pioneer Era

1900s Coasters

3 tracked debuts
Pioneer Era

1910s Coasters

2 tracked debuts
Golden Age

1920s Coasters

19 tracked debuts
Depression Era

1930s Coasters

3 tracked debuts
Wartime

1940s Coasters

5 tracked debuts
Post-War Boom

1950s Coasters

6 tracked debuts
Theme Park Era

1960s Coasters

9 tracked debuts
Steel Revolution

1970s Coasters

43 tracked debuts
Looping Boom

1980s Coasters

46 tracked debuts
Hyper Era

1990s Coasters

108 tracked debuts
Launch Era

2000s Coasters

119 tracked debuts
RMC Decade

2010s Coasters

100 tracked debuts
Modern Steel

2020s Coasters

46 tracked debuts

Reading a decade as a unit

Roller coaster construction follows recognizable cycles. The 1920s saw a wooden out-and-back boom that built much of the heritage we still ride today. The 1970s introduced steel tubular track and the first modern loopers. The 1990s pushed hyper coasters past 200 feet. The 2010s saw RMC's hybrid retracking change what an old wooden coaster could become. Browsing by decade reveals these patterns in a way a single national list cannot.

Each decade page below collects every tracked coaster opened in that period, sorted by year. Use the year column to spot bursts of activity around economic recoveries and downturns, and check the manufacturer column to see how individual builders rose, dominated and faded across the decades.