Crescent Park Looff Carousel
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Crescent Park Looff Carousel
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Riders on carousel, 2008
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| Location | Bullock's Point Ave., East Providence, Rhode Island |
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| Coordinates | 41°45′23″N 71°21′33″W / 41.75639°N 71.35917°WCoordinates: 41°45′23″N 71°21′33″W / 41.75639°N 71.35917°W |
| Built | 1895 |
| Architect | Charles I.D. Looff |
| MPS | East Providence MRA (AD) (2.6MB) |
| NRHP Reference # | 76000045 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 21, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | February 27, 1987 |
Crescent Park Looff Carousel, also known as Crescent Park Carousel or more officially as Crescent Park Looff Carousel and Shelter Building, is a National Historic Landmark in East Providence, Rhode Island.
The hand-carved carousel was built in 1895 by Charles I. D. Looff at Looff's Brooklyn factory and installed at Crescent Park Amusement Park in Riverside, Rhode Island. The ride's fifty-foot platform contains sixty-one horses, one camel, two single coaches, and two double chariots. Fifty-six of the horses are jumpers. It is among the finest and least-altered of Looff's surviving carousels, serving as a showcase for his workmanship.
Charles I. D. Looff was born in Denmark in 1852 and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. From his Brooklyn factory, Looff built many carousels for the East coast and places like the Texas State Fair in Dallas, the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, as well as Houston and Fort Worth. In 1905, Looff moved his factory to Crescent Park and used this carousel as a showpiece for customers to select the horses that they wanted on their rides. Most of the figures on this carousel were carved between 1905 and 1910 when Looff moved his factory to Long Beach, California. Of almost fifty carousels that Looff built between 1875 and 1918, this is one of the ten or twelve remaining in operation.
When Crescent Park closed in 1977, the City of East Providence kept the carousel off of the auction block after being pressured by local coalitions. The restored ride continues to operate every summer and is controlled by a commission of eighteen bureaucrats who maintain statutory authority over a dynastic managerial and operational staff.
The carousel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the carousel as "the State Jewel of American Folk Art."
The carousel is housed in one of Looff's classic "hippodrome" buildings with a trademark onion dome. Sunlight floods through multicolored clerestory windows and reflects off of faceted mirrors to create a kaleidoscope effect. The carousel is circled by several rows of wooden benches and a rope fence. Tickets are purchased from a free-standing booth located just inside the entrance and opposite from a small gift and snack stand. Adjacent to this stand is a small exhibit of historical artifacts. Vents at the roof's peak provide natural air circulation. Famously located just under the onion dome atop the center of the carousel machinery is a carved American bald eagle. Managerial offices are located in a pavilion annex opposite the main access road which was formerly Looff's on-site workshop.
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