Kennywood Park
West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
The land by the Monongahela Rover where the Kennywood amusement park sits was purchased way back in 1818 by Charles K. Kenny. In 1898, the Monongahela Street Railway Company purchased the land and built a trolley park there.
F. W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan purchased the park in 1906 and formed Kennywood Entertainment. In 2008, Parques Reunidos, a company based in Madrid, Spain, acquired Kennywood Entertainment. In 2025, the American company called Herschend purchased seven of
Parques Reunidos' parks in the United States including Kennywood. Many of Kennywood's rides and buildings have been designated Historic Landmarks. Some unique old rides at the park include Noah's Ark, a Whip ride, a Tumblebug ride from the 1920s,
and an amazing auto ride built in 1930 by Harry Traver. Today, Kennywood successfully mixes the wonderful historic features and nostalgic rides of the past with the thrills of the present!
One coaster has opened since my last visit. Steel Curtain is an S&S Worldwide steel coaster with eight or nine inversions. The disparity in the inversion count is due to some people counting the ride's "Banana Roll" as one inversion,
while others, including the park, count it as two inversions. It opened in July 2019, but was Standing But Not Operating from July 2023 until May 2025 as its structure was heavily modified. Ten coasters have left the park:
- Dipper (1948-1984) was a wood coaster from PTC. It was originally called Little Dipper, but it was renamed and modified in the 1950s.
- Gee Whizz Dip the Dips (1902-1921) was a wood coaster. For its first few years, it was called Figure Eight Toboggan.
- Laser Loop (1980-1990) was a flywheel-launched Shuttle Loop from Schwarzkopf. It opened as
Cascabel at Aztl án Parque Urbano in Mexico City, Mexico in 1994. For its last few years, it was called Cascabel 2.0. It closed in 2019, was disassembled, and was relocated to
Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World in 2022. The ride sat there in pieces for two years, but was never rebuilt. The pieces left the park in May 2024, but a few of its parts and its train were
sent Indiana Beach to be used as spare parts for their All American Triple Loop coaster.
- Racer (1910-1926) was a wood coaster with two tracks that was designed by John A. Miller.
- Scenic Railway (approx. 1905-1910) was a wood coaster designed and built by John A. Miller and Frederick Ingersoll.
- Speed-O-Plane (1911-1923) was another wood coaster designed and built by John A. Miller and Frederick Ingersoll.
- Steeplechase (approx. 1903-1904) was a steel coaster with 6 tracks. Riders sat on horses.
- Teddy Bear (1935-1947) was a wood coaster built by PTC.
- Tickler (1931-1952) was a Virginia Reel built by the W.F. Mangles Company.
- Wild Mouse (1958-1960) was a steel Wild Mouse coaster built by B. A. Schiff & Associates.
