Just past Acrophobia and the train station at Six Flags Over Georgia there is a garden area with a plaque dedicated to Angus G. Wynne, Jr. This unassuming memorial celebrates the life of Mr. Wynne, the founder of Six Flags Over Georgia who also founded Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis. The inscription reads as follows:

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF

ANGUS G. WYNNE, JR.

INNOVATOR AND FRIEND

FOUNDER OF SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA

WE DEDICATE OURSELVES TO PROVIDING THE WHOLESOME BLEND OF FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT WHICH WAS ANGUS WYNNE’S DREAM COME TRUE.

Mr. Wynne worked in the oil fields and served in the Navy during WWII before turning to real-estate development. The inspiration for Six Flags Over Texas came from a trip Mr. Wynne took to Disneyland. He came home with a vision to build a park to celebrate Texas history and thus the “Six Flags” over Texas.

In 1965 Mr. Wynne announced that a wholly owned subsidiary had bought 3,000 acres of land in the Atlanta area for a new theme park location. This land would go on to become Six Flags Over Georgia. In 1973 Mr. Wynne suffered a debilitating stroke and died in 1979 at just 65 years old.

At one point nearly every theme park was a vacant piece of land. It takes vision and guts to transform that land into a theme park. Mr. Wynne did this multiple times and we’re all still reaping the benefits of it today.