Elitch Gardens Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 or as the Kit Carson County Carousel, is a 1905

Philadelphia Toboggan Company Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia ...

carousel located in Burlington, Colorado.

History

Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 was manufactured in 1905 for

Elitch Gardens Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood in northwest Denver, Colorado, United States, at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the m ...

. It was used at the park every summer until 1928, when the park acquired a new carousel also made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC #51) and sold the existing carousel and

band organ A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud musi ...

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 A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

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

hippocamp The hippocampus or hippocamp, also ''hippokampos'' (plural: hippocampi or hippocamps; grc, ἱππόκαμπος, from , "horse" and , "sea monster"

us, 1 lion, 1 tiger, and 3 zebras :Music: 1909

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

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.Census of Operating North American Carousels
National Carousel Association. January 14, 2007.

References

External links

Kit Carson County Carousel
from the Colorado Historical Society {{Registered Historic Places Amusement rides introduced in 1905 Buildings and structures in Kit Carson County, Colorado Tourist attractions in Kit Carson County, Colorado Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Carousels on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Historic Landmarks in Colorado Elitch Gardens Theme Park Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters carousels National Register of Historic Places in Kit Carson County, Colorado 1905 establishments in Colorado