Text and photos by Deb Holmes
|
|
It's a cool and rainy Sunday afternoon, but at Glen Echo National Park in Montgomery County, Maryland, the mood is festive.
An antique Wurlitzer Military 165 band organ lures kids of all ages to the park's beloved showpiece -- a 1921 carousel, manufactured by the famed Dentzel Co. of Philadelphia.
This is no ordinary park -- and no ordinary carousel. The hand-carved animals are individual masterpieces of woodworking and painting.
Ordinary carousels feature brightly painted ponies. And while there are plenty of equines on the Glen Echo carousel, you can also choose to ride an ostrich, zebra, hare, reindeer, giraffe or a tiger. Brass poles gleam under the light of thousands of white bulbs. Riders are reflected in antique mirrors surrounded by plaster angels.
The entire marvelous machine is housed in a turn-of-the-century stone and wood shed restored in bright Victorian colors.
|
|
The carousel was nearly lost to the park in 1968, but was saved by a group of citizens who cherished its memory. For 50 cents, you can be transported back decades in time, to when this park, perched high above the Potomac River in Maryland was a popular amusement park.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next page: More photos, the park's past ->
- There are currently no articles posted to this section.
Inside Old House Web
Site Directory
