Elitch Gardens Carousel

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 also made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC #51) 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 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.

References

References

1. {{NRISref. 2007a
2. [http://www.coloradohistory-oahp.org/programareas/shf/exploreCO/carousel.htm Kit Carson County Carousel]{{Dead link. (October 2025)
3. James H. Charleton. (c. 1983). ["National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 / Elitch Gardens Carousel (1905-28) / Kit Carson County Carousel (1928-date)"]({{NHLS url). National Park Service.
4. [http://www.ourjourney.info/MyJourneyDestinations/KitCarsonCountyCarousel.asp Kit Carson County Carousel] {{Webarchive. link. (August 20, 2006 . Our Journey. Prairie Development Corporation. 2004.)
5. [http://www.nca-usa.org/NCAcensus.html Census of Operating North American Carousels]. National Carousel Association. January 14, 2007.