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Kit Carson County Fairgrounds Carousel

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1905, Philadelphia Toboggan Co. Northwest corner of Colorado Ave. and 15th St. (NHL)
  • (© BRC Photography)
  • Burlington Carousel (Tom Noel)

One of seventy-four carousels built by the Philadelphia firm, this has its original forty-six hand-carved animals in three stationary rows. These richly detailed wooden creatures include a seahorse, a lion, a tiger, a zebra, a camel, a giraffe, and many horses marching counterclockwise on a 45-footdiameter platform within a twelve-sided building (1928). Real antlers adorn the deer, and many of the horses have horsehair tails. Inside the carousel is a 1912 Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ, a restored and functional 100-key instrument with 200 pipes. Built for Elitch Gardens in Denver, the carousel operated there until 1928, when it was sold to Kit Carson County. In 1931, with the Great Depression and dust storms devastating the county, the fairgrounds closed and the carousel building was used for feed storage. Restoration began in 1976, and several years later locals and visitors could once again ride at 15 miles per hour to waltzes played by a mechanical band on Colorado's most celebrated merry-go-round.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

What's Nearby

Winegar Building
Sim Hudson Motor Company
Burlington State Armory
Old Town Burlington

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "Kit Carson County Fairgrounds Carousel", [Burlington, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-KC02.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 266-266.

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