The Midway Carousel (also known as the Daniel C. Müller Carousel) is an antique

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

. It was built in 1912 and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. The carousel is Cedar Point's oldest operating ride.

Overview

The carousel is in diameter and features 60 horses arranged in 16 rows of three or four. The inside three horses are jumpers, meaning they are attached to a mechanism that moves them up and down as the carousel moves. The outside row horses are stationary. Four of the rows have a chariot in place of the outside horse for a total of 48 jumpers, 12 standing horses and four chariots. Music is provided by a Wurlitzer 153 band organ.

History

The carousel was created by Daniel C. Müller in 1912 for John J. Hurley who operated it as Hurley's Hurdlers in Revere Beach, Massachusetts. In 1945 it was purchased by the Holzapfel family who owned and operated several rides at Cedar Point under the name Playland Amusement Concession Company. The carousel opened on the park's midway for the 1946 season. It is one of only two carousels built independently by Müller that still exist, the other being the Forest Park Carousel in

Woodhaven, Queens Woodhaven is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the north by Park Lane South and Forest Park, on the east by Richmond Hill, on the south by Ozone Park and Atlantic Avenue, an ...

. Cedar Point purchased the carousel in 1963 from the Holzapfel family. On October 20, 1982, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Daniel C. Muller Carousel. In September 1993, Cedar Point announced a new inverted roller coaster, Raptor, was to be installed on the main midway where the log flume, carousel and calypso were located. The carousel was carefully disassembled and renovated over the next eight months, with Cedar Point artists and craftsmen carefully restoring the panels and carvings. The original carousel pavilion was not in good condition and was too large for the new location. Some of the artwork was salvaged but the building was demolished. A new carousel building was erected on the main midway at the front of the park. It is adorned with a copper roof and more than 3,200 lights. It originally had red, theatrical-style pulled-back drapes, but those have been removed.

References

{{Portal bar, National Register of Historic Places, Architecture, The arts, History, Ohio 1912 establishments in Ohio Amusement rides introduced in 1912 Buildings and structures in Ohio Carousels on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Erie County, Ohio

Overview

History

See also

References