Most People Don’t Know That The Free Fall Amusement Ride Was Invented Right Here In South Carolina

If amusement parks are one of your favorite ways to let loose and have some fun, then you're familiar with the popular free-fall type ride. The other three basic categories of rides include roller coasters (the most popular), invented in the 1800s; the Ferris wheel, also invented in the 1800s; and the merry-go-round, invented in the 1700s. The free fall type is found in almost every amusement park and large carnival around the world and is characterized by three distinct phases: the ride to the top, the momentary suspension, and the downward plunge. Most people don't know that this ride adored by adrenaline junkies everywhere was actually invented in South Carolina.

The inventor of the free fall ride is a man named Gerald "Jerry" L. Barber of Greenville, South Carolina, who invented his first ride when he was working as a high school principal. He and some friends built it in his garage!

The idea for the free fall amusement ride was first born outside a Columbia gas station. As Jerry looked up at a tall sign in front of him thinking how cool it would be to jump off the top, without landing on the pavement and going to an early grave, that is!

A problem solver and innovator by nature, he began considering the possibilities and developing a design using a curve to bring the ride to a stop.

He filed for a patent in 1974, just three years after having relocated to Greenville to start a company manufacturing amusement rides. This after having worked for Chance Rides for a few years when they took note of his ride inventions and offered him three times what he was making as a principal.

Gerald L. Barber's love of amusement rides started early when his father owned a traveling carnival. His knack for innovation also led him into the area of renewal energy, where he has inventions and a wind technology company, BarberWind. Hear directly from the inventor himself in this brief video:

As much as we love nature around here, check out this cool book about how nature is inspiring inventors: Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature.

Did you know this amusement ride was invented in South Carolina?