Crescent Park Looff Carousel, also known as Crescent Park Carousel or more officially as Crescent Park Looff Carousel and Shelter Building, is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

East Providence, Rhode Island East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,139 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-largest city in the state. Geography East Providence is located between the Providence and Seeko ...

. The hand-carved carousel was built in 1895 by Charles I. D. Looff at his Brooklyn, New York factory and installed at Crescent Park Amusement Park in the Riverside section of East Providence, Rhode Island. The ride's fifty-foot platform contains sixty-one horses, one camel, two single coaches, and two double chariots. Fifty-six of the horses are jumpers. It is among the finest and least-altered of Looff's surviving carousels, serving as a showcase for his workmanship.

History

Charles I. D. Looff was born in

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in 1852 and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He built the first carousel at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

in 1876. From his Brooklyn factory, Looff built many carousels for the East coast and places like the Texas State Fair in Dallas, the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, as well as Houston and Fort Worth. In 1905, Looff moved his factory to Crescent Park and used this carousel as a showpiece for customers to select the horses that they wanted on their rides. Most of the figures on this carousel were carved between 1905 and 1910 when Looff moved his factory to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. Of almost fifty carousels that Looff built between 1875 and 1918, this is one of the ten or twelve remaining in operation. When Crescent Park closed in 1977, the City of East Providence kept the carousel off of the auction block after being pressured by local coalitions in a lengthy legal battle. The restored ride continues to operate every summer and is controlled by a commission of eighteen people who maintain statutory authority over a managerial and operational staff. The carousel was listed on 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 1976, and was declared a

in 1987. and The Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the carousel as "the State Jewel of American Folk Art." The carousel was re-opened on August 6, 2022 after a three year closure due to repair work.

Building

The carousel is housed in one of Looff's classic "hippodrome" buildings topped with his traditional onion dome. Sunlight floods through multicolored

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows and reflects off of faceted mirrors to create a magical

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

effect. The carousel is circled by several rows of wooden benches and a rope fence. Tickets are purchased from a free-standing booth located just inside the entrance and opposite from a small gift and snack stand. Adjacent to this stand is a small exhibit of historical artifacts. Vents at the roof's peak provide natural air circulation. A full-sized hand-carved American bald eagle sits atop the rides center pole. Managerial offices are located in a pavilion annex opposite the main access road which was formerly Looff's on-site workshop.

Rides

Rides begin and end when a brass fog bell manufactured by PERKO Inc. is rung. The duration of the ride is determined with the help of a small hourglass affixed to the snare drum cabinet of the

band organ Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

. It is one of the only carousels in America where riders can play the ring game by grabbing a

brass ring A brass ring is a small, grabbable ring that a dispenser presents to a carousel rider during the course of a ride. These dispensers are filled with a large number of iron or steel rings and a single or a few brass rings. The rings can then be to ...

to earn a free ride. After catching the rings, riders throw them into the cut-out mouth of a clown face painted on a large canvas. Originally, the ride was powered by steam from the park's steam plant. The carousel is currently operated by an electric motor.

Band organ

An Andreas Ruth und Sohn Style 38(or 38er Ruth)

, imported from

Waldkirch Waldkirch () is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground org ...

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, provides music from a Wurlitzer 165

music roll A music roll () is a storage medium used to operate a mechanical musical instrument. They are used for the player piano, mechanical organ, electronic carillon and various types of orchestrion. The vast majority of music rolls are made of paper. ...

system, which replaced the original Ruth 96-keyless cardboard

book music A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

system. At least six cassette volumes of recorded music were previously sold at the carousel and have become rare collector's items. In response to noise complaints by the carousel operators and visitors, several of the ranks of pipes in the band organ have been disabled to reduce the music volume. In a notable 1995 incident, carved instruments from the facade of the band organ were stolen.
Projo.com archives, "Looff Carousel ornaments stolen"

References

Images