In Watch Hill in Westerly Rhode Island is one of the two oldest operating carousels in the country – the Flying Horse Carousel. It is certainly the oldest suspended horses carousel in the United States, and tied with the Flying Horses Carousel on Martha’s Vineyard as the oldest Carousel.
The Flying Horse Carousel was built in 1876 by the Charles W. Dare Company of New York, the same company the built the Flying Horses Carousel. It spent its early years as part of a traveling carnival until 1879 when the carnival abandoned the carousel in Watch Hill.
Unlike most carousels, the horses for the Flying Horse Carousel are suspended from chains. Rings, including the brass ring, may be grabbed from a device in the middle of the carousel.
The Flying Horse Carousel is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
The carousel is maintained by the Watch Hill Memorial Library & Improvement Society
Flying Horse Carousel, Westerly, RI,
[...] – Flying Horse Carousel, Watch Hill, Westerly, Rhode [...]