Lake Compounce Carousel is a historic carousel at

Lake Compounce Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans , which includes a beach and a water park called Crocodile ...

amusement park in

Southington, Connecticut Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situ ...

. It was designed by Charles I. D. Looff and built in 1890. A rare surviving operational Looff carousel, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978.

Description and history

The Lake Compounce Carousel is located on the southern portion of the amusement park grounds, separated from the northern shore of Lake Compounce by a water slide and the Starlight Theater. The carousel is housed in a 12-sided wooden structure topped by a scallop-shingled roof with a

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

center and a central cupola. The roof is supported by wooden posts set on piers, with balustrades between the piers. The carousel has a platform in diameter, with 18 rows of riding positions. Sixteen of these positions consist of horse figures three abreast. Of the other two, two of the three positions are taken up by a stationary chariot, and in one of those, the third position is occupied by a goat. The horses are each uniquely painted, and are set in a variety of poses and facial attitudes. The decorative elements of the platform assembly are original. The carousel was built about 1890 at the Charles Looff factory in

Riverside, Rhode Island Riverside is a neighborhood in the city of East Providence in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Despite not being an incorporated city, Riverside has its own zip code, 02915, and is an acceptable mailing address according to the United States Postal ...

. It was originally located at

Savin Rock Amusement Park Savin Rock was an American amusement park in West Haven, Connecticut. It was previously called The White City and was established in the 1870s . The park included a number of roller coasters, other rides and numerous funhouses. The park has been ...

West Haven, Connecticut West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is located on the coast of Long Island Sound. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,584. History Settled in 1648, West Haven (then known as West Farms) ...

, and was moved to Lake Compounce in 1911. At that time it was also modified by Tim Murphy to include a recently designed mechanism for making the horses go up and down.

References

External links

Charles I.E. Looff Carousel at Lake Compounce, Bristol, Connecticut
– YouTube {{LC Rides Buildings and structures completed in 1890 Buildings and structures in Southington, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Carousels in Connecticut Carousels on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References

External links