{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Lake Compounce Carousel | nrhp_type = | image = LakeCompounceCarousel.jpg | caption = | location = Lake Compounce Amusement Park, Southington, Connecticut | coordinates = {{coord|41|38|21|N|72|55|22|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Connecticut#USA | built = {{Start date|1890}} | architect = Looff; et al | added = December 12, 1978 | area = Less than one acre | refnum = 78002865<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }}
'''Lake Compounce Carousel''' is a historic carousel at Lake Compounce amusement park in Southington, Connecticut. It was designed by Charles I. D. Looff<ref>{{cite web|title=1893 Carmel/Looff/S&G/Murphy Carousel at Lake Compounce|url=http://carousels.org/psp/LakeCompounce/|publisher=National Carousel Association|accessdate=20 May 2016}}</ref> and built around 1890. A rare surviving operational Looff carousel, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.<ref name="nris"/>
==Description and history== Lake Compounce Carousel is located on the southern portion of the amusement park grounds, separated from the northern shore of Lake Compounce by a water slide and the Starlight Theater. The carousel is housed in a 12-sided wooden structure topped by a scallop-shingled roof with a monitor center and a central cupola. The roof is supported by wooden posts set on piers, with balustrades between the piers. The carousel has a platform {{convert|45|ft|m}} in diameter, with 18 rows of riding positions. 16 of these positions consist of horse figures, three abreast. Of the other two, two of the three positions are taken up by a stationary chariot, and in one of those, the third position is occupied by a goat. The horses are each uniquely painted, and are set in a variety of poses and facial expressions. The decorative elements of the platform assembly are original.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|78002865}}|title=NRHP nomination for Lake Compounce Carousel|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2017-07-14}}</ref>
The carousel was built around 1890 at the Charles Looff factory in Riverside, Rhode Island.<ref name=NRHP/> It was originally located at Savin Rock Amusement Park in West Haven, Connecticut, and was moved to Lake Compounce in 1911.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lake Compounce Carousel|url=http://www.carouselnews.com/April-2006/April-2006/Lake-Compounce-Carousel.html|publisher=Carousel News|accessdate=20 May 2016|date=August 1, 2006}}</ref> At that time it was also modified by Tim Murphy to include a recently designed mechanism for making the horses go up and down.<ref name=NRHP/>
==See also== *Amusement rides on the National Register of Historic Places *National Register of Historic Places listings in Southington, Connecticut
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commonscat|Lake Compounce Carousel}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x5Qi2W36-M Charles I.E. Looff Carousel at Lake Compounce, Bristol, Connecticut] – YouTube
{{NRHP in Southington, Connecticut}} {{LC Rides}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1890 Category:Buildings and structures in Southington, Connecticut Category:National Register of Historic Places in Southington, Connecticut Category:Carousels in Connecticut Category:Carousels on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut