SCENE & SEEN
Flying Horses Carousel Celebrates 150 Years
Photo by Michael Blanchard
The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust proudly announces the 150th anniversary season of the Flying Horses Carousel, America’s oldest platform carousel, located at 33 Lake Avenue in Oak Bluffs. To mark this extraordinary milestone, the Trust is unveiling the most comprehensive restoration in the carousel’s history–one that honors the artistry and heritage of this cherished National Landmark while ensuring it will delight riders for generations to come.
A Living Piece of American History
Built and carved by the Charles Dare Company in 1876 to commemorate America’s centennial, the Flying Horses was designed as a “county carousel”– engineered for transport and easy re-assembly on fairgrounds. It first spun at Coney Island in New York City before making its way in 1884 to Cottage City, as Oak Bluffs was then known, joining a lively strip of Victorian entertainments along the harbor, including a large slide and a roller-skating rink.
Unlike most carousels, the Flying Horses is a true platform carousel: its horses and chariots are fixed to the platform while the entire structure rotates. Moved to its current location in 1888, it narrowly escaped a massive winter storm–and has been turning ever since. Its distinctive maroon, gabled roof with whimsical hand-lettered signage has greeted visitors arriving by side-wheel steamships at the Oak Bluffs ferry terminal for nearly 150 years.
When the Vineyard Preservation Trust acquired the carousel in 1986–saving it from dismantling–the Department of the Interior designated it a National Landmark. Each year, some 300,000 riders reach for the brass ring as the Wurlitzer band organ fills Circuit Avenue with the soundtrack of summer.
With the support of the community and preservation funds from the Town of Oak Bluffs, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and a community of donors, the Trust has undertaken the most ambitious restoration of the Flying Horses in its history. The work has been carried out by skilled historic preservationists Myles Thurlow and John C. Anderson, and spans every facet of the landmark, from the grounds to the horses themselves.
Few sounds are more synonymous with the Flying Horses than the 1923 Wurlitzer band organ – one of the last of its kind still in active use on a functioning carousel. As part of the 150th anniversary restoration, artist Max Decker and master preservationist Myles Thurlow meticulously restored the instrument’s pipes, bellows, and mechanisms to full voice. It plays every day the carousel operates, its music drifting up Circuit Avenue just as it has since 1923.
The Flying Horses is located at: 33 Lake Avenue in Oak Bluffs. The Carousel is open 10am - 2pm until June 20th, after that, the Carousel is open 7-days a week 10am - 9pm For more information contact: nevette@mvpreservation.org, (508) 627-4440, vineyardtrust.org