This website is designed to give you an in-depth look at the beloved sport of roller skating. From it's humble beginnings to its iconic moments
The first noted moment of roller skates was during a theater performance where actors fastened wheels to their shoes to replicate ice skating on the stage. This first debut was imagined by John Joseph Merlin but it wasn’t until years later that roller skates would become a past time enjoyed by many.
Merlin is rumored to flamboyantly skate into a masquerade party while playing a violin where he allegedly creates quite the scene by crashing into a mirror and breaking his poor violin in the process.
The French inventor M. Petitbled patented a three-wheeled inline skate model in Paris.
James Plimpton revolutionized the roller skate by inventing a skate with four wheels, two pairs set side by side, also known as a quad skate. Plimpton also established the New York Roller Skating Association, opened the first skating rink at a Rhode Island resort in 1866, and gave skating lessons during the 1870s.
Affectionately referred to as the Golden Age of Roller Skating.
A big boom in roller skating with an emphasis in disco music and roller discos.
Roller skating had a large resurgence with people spending more time at home and in need of new hobbies.
