Paragon Carousel will open this weekend. What is the history?
HULL − The Paragon Carousel, a cherished landmark, will open for its 96th season this weekend.
Opening day will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 30, and include pictures with the Easter Bunny from noon to 3 p.m. On Easter, an egg hunt with thousands of colorful eggs will take place at noon on the lawn of the Paragon Carousel, which will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
What is the Paragon Carousel?
Located on Nantasket Beach, the Paragon Carousel is the last remaining attraction from Paragon Park amusement park, built in 1905. The carousel has been at the beach since 1928, when it replaced the original carousel that burned.
The carousel still has the original 66 carved wooden horses and two rare Roman chariots. It's one of only 100 or so remaining grand carousels in the country.
Paragon Park closed in 1984, and the carousel was in danger of being dismantled. But a local campaign raised the money to save it. It’s the only piece of Paragon Park that survived.
What was Paragon Park?
Paragon Park was an amusement park stretching along Nantasket Avenue opposite the beach with a wooden roller coaster and a panoply of other rides, all inside a castle-tower-style entrance. It was built before the Civil War by the New Haven Railroad and opened in 1905.
It was also home of the Giant Roller Coaster. Built in 1917, the wooden roller coaster stood 98 feet high at its peak and was the tallest roller coaster in the world for eight years until the Cyclone roller coaster was built at Revere Beach.
Paragon Park wasn’t always rides and games. When it first opened, the park had exhibits like a model of the Johnstown flood and replicas of a street in Cairo or the Klondike. There were also exotic animals, including elephants and polar bears. In those early days, visitors arrived by train or steamboat.
When it was sold in 1985 to a condominium development group, the park had been in the family of Larry and Phyllis Stone for 65 years.
What is going on at the site now?
Hull's planning board recently approved The Procopio Companies’ application for site plan review and Nantasket Beach Overlay District special permit to build 132 market-rate apartments and over 9,000 square feet of commercial space on Nantasket Avenue.
The Nantasket Beach Overlay District was created during a town meeting in 2013 to revitalize the economy and balance the commercial and residential tax base by promoting mixed-use development along Nantasket Avenue from Phipps Street to Park Avenue.
The developer still must go through the town’s conservation commission and get various approvals from state entities.
First U.S. carousel was right here in Massachusetts
The earliest known carousel that worked in America was in 1799 in Salem. It was described as a “wooden horse circus ride.”
The oldest operating platform carousel in the country is the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. It was designed and constructed in 1876 by Charles Dare.
Seven historical carousels in New England
The Paragon Carousel (1928) is one of seven antique wooden and metal carousels in Massachusetts, according to Rob Pirozzi, who writes for Travel New England. The other six include:
The Flying Horses Carousel, the nation's oldest platform carousel, which has delighted visitors since 1884 in the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard.
Heritage Museums & Gardens Carousel (1908) in Sandwich.
Six Flags New England Carousel (1909) in Agawam.
Fall River Carousel (1920) at Battleship Cove in Fall River.
Holyoke Merry-Go-Round (1929) at Holyoke Heritage State Park in Holyoke.
Cape Cod Carousel and Funhouse Arcade (1957) in Hyannis.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Paragon Carousel in Hull to open for its 96th season