Broad Ripple Park Carousel

The Broad Ripple Park Carousel is a historic carousel that now makes its home at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. It was originally installed in 1917 at White City Amusement Park on the White River. The elaborately carved animal figures came from the workshop of the Dentzel Carousel Company in Philadelphia and were made before 1900, while the William F. Mangels Company handled the assembly. After the protective pavilion collapsed in 1956, destroying the mechanism, the figures were put into storage by the city parks department. The museum acquired the animals gradually starting in 1965. Rather than selling them, the museum's leadership under Mildred Compton chose to fully restore them and rebuild the carousel so it could run again. The process lasted until 1977 and required structural modifications to the new museum building to fit the large installation on the fifth floor.

Today the carousel is one of the museum's largest exhibits, and visitors can ride it. With a diameter of about 13 meters (43 feet), it holds a total of 44 hand-carved wooden animals. Alongside the typical jumping and standing horses, you'll also find goats, giraffes, deer, a lion, and a tigress. The figures are arranged in three rings around the central mechanism. A Wurlitzer band organ built in 1919 and designed specifically for carousels adds to the authentic atmosphere. The restorers Bill and Caroline Von Stein of Cincinnati took on the work on the animals; because of their poor condition, they chose not to reconstruct the original colors exactly and instead used natural color schemes.

The carousel is not only a popular family destination but also a protected cultural treasure. In 1987 it was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is considered one of the oldest surviving Dentzel carousels of its kind. The combination of historic craftsmanship, the lively music of the organ, and the chance to experience the animals up close makes the Broad Ripple Park Carousel a special highlight of the children's museum in Indianapolis.