After more than 50 years, the Six Flags America amusement park in Bowie, Maryland, closed its gates for the last time on Sunday.

This past May, Six Flags announced that this would be the last season for the amusement park and its water park, Hurricane Harbor.

A storied history

Billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot was one of the early investors involved in what is now Six Flags America.

In July of 1974, the ABC television network’s attractions division opened ‘The Wildlife Preserve’, which was a drive-thru safari. The park did not take off, and in less than two years it was closed. In 1978, the park was sold to Jim Fowler, the host of ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom’, and renamed it ‘Wild Country’. That park also closed after two seasons.

In 1981, the park reopened

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