Cannon Ball at Lake Winnie - a Roller Coaster Landmark

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originally posted on 1/26/2023 4:50:00 PM

Located in Rossville, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga Tennessee, Lake Winnepesaukah and its Saokya Water Park offer traditional park treats with a charming lakeside setting. Featuring over 44 rides and waterpark attractions, the park proudly boasts as its premier attraction, the Cannon Ball. And this wooden roller coaster gem has received a high honor — it been designated by the American Coaster Enthusiasts as an ACE Landmark, recognized as an amusement attraction notable for its historic significance.

Cannon Ball’s home park, Lake “Winnie,” was founded in 1925 by Carl and Minette Dixon. The park was named after the Native American word Winnepesaukah, meaning "bountiful waters" or "beautiful lake of the highlands. The Dixons purchased the lake property with visions of creating a family swimming and picnicking park. But the place quickly started opening amusement rides, such as its Boat Chute attraction, designed by Carl Dixon and opened in 1927. It is the oldest mill chute water ride of its kind still in operation in the United States. Descendants of the Dixon family have been involved with the park for more than 95 years since.

Photo: S. Gzesh. View full-sized image.

During the early 1960s then park manager Evelyn Dixon White, who was the daughter of the original owners, approached the legendary Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) and the firm’s then-President and famed coaster designer John C. Allen, to ask them to build a new roller coaster for the growing park. Ms. Dixon White asked Mr. Allen, who designed 26 coasters in his storied career, to create something especially for her park. Once he did, PTC's James L. Martz, who had a hand in erecting twelve coasters in his career, headed up the construction of the classic-style ‘out-and-back’ coaster. The ride opened in May 1967.

It was decided to name the coaster Cannon Ball because the park’s locale and surrounding areas were once encampments for Civil War soldiers from both the Confederate and Union armies. The two PTC-built coaster trains made for Cannon Ball were painted differently and uniquely, one in Union blue, the other in Confederate gray, with each train appointed to recognize the famed Civil War forces that battled in nearby Chattanooga and Chickamauga.

Photo: S. Gzesh. View full-sized image.

Cannon Ball features a top lift hill height of 70 feet, a 2,272-foot-long course, a top speed of 50 mph, and nine hills. Riders smoothly fly over the track, with many of the ride’s dips producing gliding airtime. The woodie’s beautiful white support structure with its curving slopes, frames a classic no-nonsense solid adventure offering mortared mayhem and kick-butt family fun.

Photo: S. Gzesh. View full-sized image.

Venerated as the oldest roller coaster in Georgia, Cannon Ball has survived for over five decades, pleasing multiple generations of thrill-seekers. Lake Winnepesaukah’s trademark invitation is “Come On, Get Happy.” ACE happily celebrates this fine park and its signature treasure, their Landmark wooden Cannon Ball roller coaster.