Crescent Park was the largest and most spectacular of all of Rhode Island's Victorian-era amusement parks. Amusement parks in those days included boating, games, picnics, music, tunnels of love, and, noteably, carousels. Crescent Park featured a grand carousel with 62 hand-carved figures and four chariots -- a masterpiece of carousels designed as a showcase of the talents of Charles I.D. Looff.

Loof, one of the earliest and foremost carousel designers, built the Crescent Park Carousel in 1895. Looff's trademark was the overall richness of effect and the Crescent Park Carousel gives full interpretation to that spirit. Elaborate embelishments of decorative panels, beveled mirrors, faceted glass jewels, electric lights, colored sandwich glass windows, and its orginal band organ music surround the flying steeds to create Looff's "Total Carousel Experience".

The Crescent Park Carousel, nationally recognized as a true masterpiece of wood sculpture, was rescued in the 1970's by a handful of East Providence residents. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites and Places in 1976. In 1985 the Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the carousel as the "State Jewel of American Folk Art". In 1987, the Department of the Interior's National Park Service designated the carousel as a National Historic Landmark.

The carousel is open from Easter through Columbus Day on Saturdays and Sundays. Additional days are added during the summer. Ride tickets are 75 cents each. The carousel can be rented for parties, weddings, and other functions, with special children's birthday party packages available. Call them at 401/435-7518 or 401/433-2828.

Directions: From I-195, exit 4 (Riverside) to Vetran's Memorial Parkway. Continue south to Bullocks Point Avenue, stright to Bayside Park.

If you're a carousel fan, Rhode Island offers several more carousels. Another Looff creation is in Slater Park. There are also carousels in Roger Williams Park, inside Warwick Mall, the "Flying Horses Merry-Go-Round" at Watch Hill, and one of Rocky Point's carousels at the Garlick Farms dairy.

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