The Cass County Dentzel Carousel, formerly known as the Spencer Park Dentzel Carousel and also known as the Riverside Park Dentzel Carousel or Logansport Carousel, is a historic

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

in Riverside Park of

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northwest of Kokomo. Hi ...

. Built by the

Dentzel Carousel Company The G.A. Dentzel Company was an American builder of carousels in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. History Its founder, Gustav Dentzel, had immigrated to the United States in 1860, from Germa ...

, probably by 1900, it is one of the company's oldest surviving

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...

-style carousels, with animals likely hand-carved by George Dentzel. It was declared 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. and

Description and history

The carousel is now located in the playground area of Logansport's Riverside Park, in a utilitarian multisided building. It is in diameter, with animals arrayed three abreast on its sixteen spreading platforms. The animals depicted include deer, giraffes, a lion and a tiger, and a variety of horses. There are four two-seat chariots. The carousel includes its original mechanism for dispensing rings, in which the recipient of the brass ring is awarded a free ride. The organ and power plant (electric now, but originally steam) are of uncertain provenance, and may not be original. The exact construction date of the carousel is not known. It has been estimated to have been built c. 1900-1903, but may be older. It was apparently built for the Fort Wayne Consolidated Railway Company, which operated Robison Park, an amusement park outside

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. The park closed in 1919, and the carousel was then moved to Logansport, where it operated in Spencer Park for many years. In 1949 it was moved to Riverside Park, and in 1972 it was purchased by the non-profit Cass County Carousel. In 1993 it underwent a complete restoration, in which its original paint job was restored. Two other existing

carousels are also declared National Historic Landmarks. The

Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building The Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building is a carousel and building in Highland Park in Meridian, Mississippi. Manufactured about 1896 for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ...

survives in Mississippi and the

Broad Ripple Park Carousel Broad Ripple Park Carousel is an antique carousel in The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. It was installed in 1917 at an amusement park near the White River in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it remained until the building housing it collaps ...

is in Indianapolis.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Carousels on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Historic Landmarks in Indiana Tourist attractions in Cass County, Indiana Amusement rides introduced in 1919 Buildings and structures in Cass County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Cass County, Indiana Logansport, Indiana