Built 1905 Designated NHL February 27, 1987 Area 2,024 m² Added to NRHP 19 December 1978 | NRHP Reference # 78000861 Opened 1905 Phone +1 719-346-7666 | |
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Location Kit Carson County Fairgrounds
815 15th St
Burlington, Colorado 80807 Address 815 N 15 St, Burlington, CO 80807, USA Hours Closed now Wednesday11AM–6PMThursday11AM–6PMFriday11AM–6PMSaturday11AM–6PMSunday11AM–6PMMonday11AM–6PMTuesday11AM–6PM Architect Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Similar Old Town Museum, Elitch Gardens, Highland Park Dentzel C, Riverfront Park Carousel, C W Parker Carousel | ||
Elitch gardens carousel
Elitch Gardens Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 or as the Kit Carson County Carousel, is a 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel located in Burlington, Colorado.
Contents
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History
Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 was manufactured in 1905 for Elitch Gardens. It was used at the park every summer until 1928, when the park acquired a new carousel and sold the existing carousel and band organ 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 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 hippocampus, 1 lion, 1 tiger, and 3 zebras Music: 1909 Wurlitzer 155 "Monster" military band organIt 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.