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Children and adults alike were delighted for years by the carousels in both of our terrific parks -- Audubon Park and City Park. The carousel your mother remembers was the creation of a family of builders, German immigrants who arrived in America in 1860. It was built by the Dentzel Carousel Factory in 1903 and began operation in 1912.
In 1951, the carousel was completely redone. New machinery was installed, old machinery was rebuilt, and all 48 of the hand-carved wooden animals -- horses, lions, tigers and giraffes -- were dressed up in dazzling new coats of paint. But in 1967, the carousel was sold to San Antonio's Hemisfair.
After the Civil War, carousels began to appear in the United States. The Hershell Company, the best-known American carousel firm founded in 1872, had one of its carousels as a main attraction at the World's Fair and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 in Audubon Park, known then as Upper City Park. The first carousel in Audubon Park -- probably not the one your mother remembers -- became the park's first kiddie ride in 1891. Also in 1901, an Irishman named B.A. Murphy operated mule-driven rides at Audubon Park and established the first mechanically operated carousel there in 1901.
But guess what! As of May 2004, Audubon Park has another carousel -- this one featuring endangered species. It is the result of a gift from the Charlotte Gottesman family. Decorated with oil paintings of Audubon Zoo animals, the carousel was created in San Francisco especially for Audubon Park. Children, and those young at heart, can climb aboard a white tiger or a white alligator or any of the 60 friendly critters, including traditional horses, and twirl around under the brightly striped canopy behind the Cooper Plaza's elephant fountain.
