Form No. 10-300 Rev. 10-741

IJNIIEDSTATLS DIiI’ARiMILNiOFTIIE INTERIOR 1F09 NI’SNATIONAL PARK SERVICE I

NATIONAL REGISTEROF HISTORICPLACES JRECEIVFO

INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM [gATE ENTERED

______

SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMSTYPE ALL ENTRIES --COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS

NAMEHISTORIC Flying Horse Carousel

AND/OR COMMON

LOCATIONSTREET&NUMBER

- End of Bay StreetFOR PUBLICATION

- CITY. TOWN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTWesterly # 2 Hon. Edward Beard -

COUNTY CODESTATERhode Island CODE

41 Washington 009

CLASSIFICAT1ON -

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USEPUBLIC &OCCUPIED

BUILDINGISI

STRUCTURE BOTH IN PROGRESS RESIDENCE- SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE LENTERTAINMENT

PROCESS X_YES: RESTRICTED SCIENTIFIC

CONSIDERED UNRESTRICTED

OTHER:

OWNER OF PROPERTYNAME Watch }{ill Fire DistrictSTREET & NUMBER

Watch Hill -

CITYIOWN STATEWesterly

- VICINITYOF - Rhode IslandLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION

COURTHOUSE.

REGISTRY OF DEEDS ETC. Westerly Town flailSTREET& NUMBER

CITY. TOWN STATE

REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYSHistoric and Architectural Resourcesof WesterlyTITLE

- Rhode Island: A Preliminary ReportDALE

March 1973. FEDERAL £STATE .COUNTY

DEPOSIIORY FOR

SURVEYRECORDS Rhode Island Historical Preservation. CommissionSTATECITY.TOWN

Providence Rhode Ishtnd

DESCRIPTION

CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE

.XEXCELLENT _DTEAIORATED _UNALTERED &ORIGINAL SITE

_GOOD _RUINS ..ALTERED _MOVED DATE________

_FAIR ..UNEXPOSED

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL IF KNOWN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The Flying Horse Carousel at Watch Hill photo 1 is one of thetwo oldest carousels in existence inthe United States.’ Thought tohave beenbuilt about 1876 and attributed to the early Carousel makerCharles IV. F. Dare Company of New York, it stands at the southern endof Bay Street, about two hundred yards from the ocean beside the townbeach, in the quiet summer resort of Watch Hill.

* The Carousel consists of twenty wooden horses ranged two abreast.and suspendedby chains from wooden sweeps, photos 2-4, shelteredby a decagonal, hip-roofed pavillion with cobblestone piers. Eachhorse is said to have been carved from a single block of wood, althoughlegs appear to be separately darved, and each horse has a leathersaddle and bridle and teal horsehair tail and mane. Saddles, bridles,tails, and manes have been replaced several tithes, but the horses’agate eyes are the originals.. The horses are grouped in two rows, allfacing the same direction, and come in two sizes. They are smallanimals, naively carved and quite plain when compared with otherhorses attributed to Dare -- notably those on the carousel at OakBluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts -- and certainly when comparedwith the elaborate work of other slightly later master carousel makerssuch as Charles I. D. Looff.’

Each horse is suspendedfrom the heavy wooden framing of the canopyroof by a chain connectedat the rump and an iron bar joined to thepommel. The bars may have been substituted for original neck or headchains, perhaps in. an attempt to steady the steeds and somewhat limittheir arc. As the carousel turns, the horses swing out by centrifugalforce, hence the enduring and endearing name "Flying Horse Carousel."Thre’e double seats were originally included in addition to the horsesfor those who were too old, young, or too timid for free flight, butthese vanished in the hurricane of September 21, 1938, which devastatedWatch Hill. Because it was judged that the sweeps weretoo old andweak to support the weight of seats, the have not been restored to thecarousel. Fortunately, all the horses survi-ved the hurricane andwere unearthed from nearby sand dunes which wind and water had piledabout them. Most of the carousel housing also survived the onslaughtof the storm.

i-The other carousel is at Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, and isalsoattributed to the Charles IV. F. Dare Company.

2Looff’s Crescent Park Carousel in East Providence, Rhode Island,built c. 189t with horses dating from that year and for fifteenyears thereafter, was nominated to the National Register of HistoricPlaces in 1976;

Form No. 1O-300akey. 10-74

UNIIIISIAIISLII’ARlMLNIOI Jill INJIRIOR FOANPSUSEONL’LNATIONALPARK SERVICE ..‘[.:..:iti’-’;;-’ .- .1-

RECEIVED’’.,l’ ,.--,:

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES 1Tt*:’’ 7; ,.; -INVENTORY .- NOMINATION FORM - DATE ENTERED

CONTI NUATION SHEET 1 ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 2

The horses are housed in a small decagonal building whose roughcobblestone columns support a wood-frame hip roof. This pavillionappears to have beenbuilt, or much altered, in the bungalow era ofthe opening decadesof the twentieth century. The original canopyis said to have been of canvas. The present roof material is asphalthingling. A low picket fence set on a two-foot cinderblock basepartially encloses the spaces between the shelter’s piers and keepsover-eager riders out of the path of the flying horses.

Alterations to the carousel have been necessitated by changes intechnology motive power and source of music , by the hurricanereplacement of the roof framingand cover and the picket fence andthe loss of the chariots or seats, and by years of continued use.Restoration of the house and horses occurredin 1961 and again in 1974.The 1961 work included strengthening the sweeps and center pole,installing new roofing and metal work and a paved floor, and applicationo-f fresh coats of paint and new tails and manes, to the horses. [n1974, the horses received,the more detailed attention of local dahinetmakers. William Street and Son of Westerly, who recarved two missinglegs and oversaw installation of new leather saddles and flowinghorsehair tails and manes. The horses’ were also stripped and repainted.The metal stirrups, which once hung by the horses’ flanks, have beenremoved in an effort to preserve the wooden bodies; and riders -- onlythose twelve years of age or younger - - are now strapped on theirmounts.

The carousel was originally powered by a calico horse,3 who spenthis summers walking in circles, and music was provided by a handorgan. In 1897 horsepower gave way to waterpower, which, in turn, tasreplaced, about 1914, with electicity which is still the motive power.By the turn of the twentieth century, the hand organ had been replacedbya band organ which played from paper rolls. Music is now providedby a tape player installed in 1975 within a copy of a hand organ.

The floor of the carousel, originally of sand, is presently pouredconcrete. Architectural Ornamentation’ of the housing is limited toa scalloped wooden canopy edging the perimeter of the revolving frameand to the match-boarded central housing which conceals both the motorand the tape system. Victorian-style stencil patternshave recentlybeen applied to this now-white-painted housing in an attempt to recapture its period flavor.

3Tallrnan, Pleasant Places in Rhode Island, p. 29.

- SIGNIFICANCE

PERIOD . AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE--CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW

_PREHISTORIC _ARCHEULQGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING - _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGION

_1400.1499 _ARCHEOLOGY-HISTOHIC CONSERVAflON _LAW SCIENCE

500-1599 _AGF1ICULTUnE .ECONOMICS _LITERATURE ..SCULPTURE

600.1699 _ARCHTECTURE ._EDUCATION _MILITAF1Y ..SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN

_1700-1799 XART _ENGINEERING _MUSIC , - _THEATER -

800-1999 _COMMERCE _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY . TRANSPORTATION

900- * COMMUNICATIONS _INOUSTRY - _POLtTICS/GOVERNMENT LOTHER SPECIFY

JNVENTION . amusements

SPECIFICOATES 1876 . BUILDER/ARCHITECT Charles W. F. Dare CarouseLCompany of New York

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Flying Horse Carousel at Watch Hill is reputedly the oldestcarousel extant in the United States today. It is also one of the fewsurviving carousels attributed to Charles iY. F. Dare Carousel Company ofNew York, among the earliest Anerican makers of carousels and other’.amusements. It is an important artifact for the study of American carving,a still-active reminder of the early development.of "amusements" intheUnited States, and a landmark which holds a unique place in the affectionsof local and area residents.

The carousel is tentatively dated as having been built about 1876,although it may have been built several years earlier. The carousel atOak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, is also dated to c. 1876 because itshorses and chariots are identical in every detail to those illustratedin catalogs issued by the Dare Company in 1876 and 1878.4 Because thehorses at Marthas Vineyard are slightly more elaborate than those atWatch Hill, there is some conjecture that the Watch Hill horses may beearlier, made before 1876.

Price, rather than age, however, may account for the difference.The Dare catalog makes the offer: "Those wishing smaller horses madewith the common enameled cloth or leather.saddles. and plain finish, canhave such made in any size they wish, and in any dolor or quality, too14" width horse, complete in any attitude, with carved saddle, c.$25.00 to $35.00. The difference in price is in the perfection offinish and near approach to life in effect, etc., desired by the partyordering. "5 Perhaps price does explain the difference between the twocarousels: the "party ordering" on Martha’s Vineyard went "whole hogordering the housing, complete with platform and paintings, as well as

4Fried, "Flying Horses of Martha’s Vineyard Offer Surprise." Additionally,the canvas scene paintings used to cover .the outside rim and inside poleof the carousel housing and the machine covering, as well as paintedviews on the spreader boards, are very similar to those shown in theDare catalogs. Carousel expert Frederick Fried believes the artist whopainted the panels and canvases may have made the catalog woodcutengravings from these paintings.Slbid.

Form No 10-30th101ev. 10-74

UNITED S..! AILS DEPARTMENF OF-] ilL INFERIORNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

CONTI NIJATION SHEET 3 ITEM NUMBER 8 - PAGE 3

Street Railway began direct trolley service between Westerly Villageand Watch Hill. This line terminated at the carousel, as turn-of-the-century views show. The trolley was in operation six months a yearuntil it closed in 1921. Around 1883, a large Cincinnati syndicatebegan to sell house lots out of an 160-acre tract they had acquired;many New York and Cincinnati families purchased these lots and soonthe hillside Was covered with large "handsome and picturesque" summerhouses.9 By 1888 there were seven hotels and about fifty cottages.

By the time the trolley closed, the automobile had made significantinroads. This began the decline of Watch Hill’s height as a hotelsummer resort, ,and only one hoteL survives today. Large summer housescontinued to be built, however, and despite the devastation of the ‘38hurricane -- 15 lives lost and 53 houses swept out to sea -- WatchHill remains a popular community for wealthy, summer and year-roundlresidents. The F;lying. Horse Carousel continues to be one of itssingular attractions, a landmark known and valued not only by residentsthroughout Rhode Island and neighboring Connecticut, but by othervisitors as well.10

The recent restoration efforts, catried out by the. WatchHillImprovement Society under the leadership of MrS. Cyril Vc Moore;the on-going concern of its owner, the Watch Hill Fire District; andthe affection in which it is ‘held,by the general public testify tothe importance of the Flying Horse Carousel and ensure its survival.

9Nebiker, Historic and Architectural Resources of Westerly, RI. p. 18

-°In 1960 the French children’s author Paul Jacques Bonzon was sotaken with the carousel that he wrote a story about it "LePetitCheval de Bois," published in his.Contes de L’hiver. The storywas translated into English and, with illustrations, published

in the U.S., in 1976, asThe Runaway Flying Horse.

- FHR-8-300A11/78

_____________________________________

UNITED STATES.DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFOR HCRS USE ONLY -

HERITAGE CONSERVATION PND RECREATION SERVICE -

RECEIVEDNATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATE ENTERED

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

CONTI NUATION SHEET 4 ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE 2

Fried, Frederick. A Pictorial History of the Carousel. Bonanza Books,New York, 1964. . . . . -

Libby, Steve. "Wooden Horses at Watch Hill." Worcester SundayTelegram, August 15,. 1976. . -

Moore, Mrs.- Cyril V. Notebook on the carousçl, in her possession.Also interv-iew with Mrs. Moore, August 1976.

Nebiker; Walter. "Historic and Architectural Resources of Westerly,Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report." Rhode Island HistoricalPreservation Commission, Providence, Rhode Island, March, 1978.

South County Vol. IX, 1951. Narragansett times, Inc., Wakefield,Rhode Island, 1951.

Taliman, Mariana M. Pleasant Places in Rhode Island, and How toReach Them. Providence Journal Company, Providence, R.I. , 1894.

t

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Cawley, ‘William A. The 1938 Hurricane, Westerly, Rhode Island, andVicinity. Lewis R. Greene, Westerly; 1938. . -

Fried, Frederick.. "Flying Horses’ of Martha’s Vineyard OfferSurprise." Antique Monthly, July 1974. -

See continuation sheet 4

GEOGRAPHICAL DATAACREAGE OF NOMINATED less than oneIJTM REFERENCES . - -

Aj 1191 121601 I 00I I isi 7 617,70! BI I I I , I I I IZONE FASTING NORTHING ZONE EASTING NORTHING

ci 1111111 LII ‘I 11111 11.1111111111,1111VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

That portion of plat 14 lot 21 immediately beneath the Carousel,with a twenty-foot margin around the Carousel circumference.

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

STATE . CODE COUNTY CODE

FORM PREPARED BYNAME/TITLE

Ancelin -V. Lynch, National Register Coordinator

ORGANIZATION . DATERhode Island Historical Preservation Commission August 1979

STREET& NUMBER TELEPHONE.

150 Benefit Street 401-277-2678CITY OR TOWN STATE.

Providence Rhode Island

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATIONTHE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

NATIONAL..... STATE.......... LOCAL._-

As the designated state Historic Preservation Ificer for the National Historic Preservation Ac of 1966 Public Law 89-665. Ihereby nominate this property for inclusio in Lb National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to theCriteria and procedures set lorth by the Nat nal Pa k Ser ic

FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE

TITLE State Historic Preservation Officer DATE October 3, 1979ORNPSUSEONLY ‘ . -

‘. H :.:..:: ‘ ‘‘ ‘:‘

CERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUOED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER .

.

-. .:::.1’ . . -- ,. -‘ : DATE

DIRECTOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION - ,

ATTEST: - DATE,

KEEPEfl OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER - .

Detail of Dare horse, Flying ItorseCarousel. Waricri 3aqqer RhodeIsland Historical PreservationCommission, 1977

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Flying Horse CarouselWatch Hill, Westerly, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, photographer August 1977Negative: R.I. Historical Preservation Commission

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