Short answer: Roller coasters trace their origins to 17th–18th century “Russian Mountains” ice slides in and around Saint Petersburg, while LaMarcus Adna Thompson is widely called the “father of the American roller coaster” for his 1884 Switchback Railway at Coney Island.
Early origins
The earliest precursors were tall, steep ice slides known as “Russian mountains,” popular with the Russian aristocracy in the 17th–18th centuries around Saint Petersburg, with sleds (and later wheeled carts) descending reinforced wooden structures. Catherine the Great even commissioned versions at her estates, and summer adaptations used wheeled trolleys in grooved tracks, establishing key design ideas later seen in coasters.
First wheeled rides debate
Historians debate the first true wheeled roller coaster: candidates include an 18th‑century installation at Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg (1784) and Parisian rides like Les Montagnes Russes à Belleville and the Promenades Aériennes (early 1800s), which featured locked cars and guide rails. These European developments bridged ice-slide traditions to rail‑guided, gravity‑powered amusement rides.
American development
In the U.S., gravity railways like the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania (mid‑1800s) popularized scenic downhill rides and inspired purpose‑built amusement coasters. LaMarcus Adna Thompson opened the Switchback Gravity Railway at Coney Island in 1884 and received an early U.S. patent in 1885, earning him the title “father of the American roller coaster.” His Coney Island installation cemented the connection between roller coasters and amusement parks in the U.S.
