Crescent Park Carousel
by Juli Scalzi
Title
Crescent Park Carousel
Artist
Juli Scalzi
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
This carousel was built by Charles I. D. Looff. He also built the first carousel at Coney Island 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. Of almost fifty carousels that Looff built between 1875 and 1918, this is one of the ten or twelve remaining in operation.
The carousel is housed in one of Looff's classic "hippodrome" buildings with a trademark onion dome. Sunlight floods through multicolored clerestory windows and reflects off of faceted mirrors to create a kaleidoscope effect. The carousel is circled by several rows of wooden benches and a rope fence. Vents at the roof's peak provide natural air circulation. Famously located just under the onion dome atop the center of the carousel machinery is a carved American bald eagle.
The carousel was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the carousel as "the State Jewel of American Folk Art."
Uploaded
August 29th, 2014
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Viewed 3,661 Times - Last Visitor from Beverly Hills, CA on 04/19/2024 at 10:11 AM
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