Elitch Gardens Carousel
Encyclopedia
Elitch Gardens Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 or as the Kit Carson County Carousel, is a 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company
carousel
located in Burlington, Colorado
.
. It was used at the park every summer until 1928, when the park acquired a new carousel and sold the existing carousel and band organ to Kit Carson County
for $1,200, including the cost of delivery by train to Burlington. During the Depression, the carousel spent six years in storage, re-entering use in 1937.
Restoration of the carousel's band organ began in 1976. The Kit Carson County Carousel was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and a National Historic Landmark
in 1987. Restoration efforts continued in 1987 with work to restore the original paint to the animals, chariots, and the outer rim, new siding applied to the carousel building and Victorian-inspired landscaping. A second restoration to the carousel animals took place in 1992. Grants financed research into and restoration of the carousel's original lighting, machinery room, moldings on the paintings, and the Wurlitzer band organ in 1997.
It is the only antique carousel in America retaining its original paint on both the scenery panels and the animals, and it is the only surviving menagerie (having other animals in addition to horses) carousel made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company.
Philadelphia Toboggan Company
The Philadelphia Toboggan Company is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world.Mack Rides of Germany dates back to 1781, but it did not start building coasters until 1921 Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry B...
carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
located in Burlington, Colorado
Burlington, Colorado
Burlington is a Home Rule Municipality, county seat, most populous place and only city in Kit Carson County, Colorado, United States. Its population was 4191 at the U.S. Census 2010...
.
History
Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 was manufactured in 1905 for Elitch GardensElitch Gardens
Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, United States at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Colorado...
. It was used at the park every summer until 1928, when the park acquired a new carousel and sold the existing carousel and band organ to Kit Carson County
Kit Carson County, Colorado
Kit Carson County is the 18th most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 8,011 at U.S. Census 2000. The county was named for Kit Carson...
for $1,200, including the cost of delivery by train to Burlington. During the Depression, the carousel spent six years in storage, re-entering use in 1937.
Restoration of the carousel's band organ began in 1976. The Kit Carson County Carousel was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1987. Restoration efforts continued in 1987 with work to restore the original paint to the animals, chariots, and the outer rim, new siding applied to the carousel building and Victorian-inspired landscaping. A second restoration to the carousel animals took place in 1992. Grants financed research into and restoration of the carousel's original lighting, machinery room, moldings on the paintings, and the Wurlitzer band organ in 1997.
1981 theft and return
In May 1981, thieves removed three small horses and a donkey from the carousel during a heavy rainstorm. The animals were later recovered from a Salina, Kansas warehouse and returned to the carousel following a parade through Burlington in October 1981. Commemorative markers on the carousel mark the recovered animals' locations.Carousel details
- Type: 3 rows, Park, Stationary, all wood composition
- Figures: 25 standing horses, 4 chariots; standing horses include 2 burros, 3 camels, 1 dog, 3 deer, 3 giraffes, 3 goats, 1 hippocampHippocampThe hippocamp or hippocampus , often called a sea-horse in English, is a mythological creature shared by Phoenician and Greek mythology, though the name by which it is recognised is purely Greek; it became part of Etruscan mythology...
us, 1 lion, 1 tiger, and 3 zebras - Music: 1909 WurlitzerWurlitzerThe Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
155 "Monster" military band organ
It is the only antique carousel in America retaining its original paint on both the scenery panels and the animals, and it is the only surviving menagerie (having other animals in addition to horses) carousel made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company.
External links
- Kit Carson County Carousel
- Kit Carson County Carousel Project Photos from the Colorado Historical Society