In the mid-1970's, the Marriott Corp decided to try its hand in the amusement park business. Capitalizing on the patriotic fervor sweeping the U.S. during it's bicentennial year, Marriott opened two parks with a theme of "celebrating America's greatness" under the name Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976. One was located in Santa Clara, California (near San Jose), the other in Gurnee, Illinois (near Chicago). Marriott did not last long in the business and sold the parks in the mid-1980's. Both parks have kept the Great America name, but the California site is now part of the Paramount Parks chain and the Illinois location is a Six Flags park now.