Traveling Carousel
National Register of Historic Places

Traveling Carousel

Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
Listed
September 10, 1997
Type
Object
Period
Modern
Ref No.
97001116

About this property

The All Hallows Guild Carousel, or simply the Traveling Carousel, is a historic carousel housed at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. since 1963. Previously, it operated as a "county fair" carousel under Clifford Sandretzky as part of a traveling carnival based in the northern Virginia area. The carousel, constructed primarily of wood, is a rare piece believed to have been built by the Merry-Go-Round Company of Cincinnati in the 1890s. It features a unique caliola with brass pipes that was built by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York in 1937. The original operator, Clifford Sandretzky, sold the carousel to the All Hallows Guild of the National Cathedral in 1963, and they have owned it ever since. It was used multiple times per year at fund raising events and then disassembled and stored. However, in recent years, the carousel has been assembled and used only once a year at the Guild's Spring Flower Show. There are 24 animal figures on the carousel, along with two chariots. The animals are arranged into 12 pairs. The collection includes a single lion, zebra, and elephant, pairs of goats, camels, and deer, as well as four standing horses, and nine jumping horses. All of the figures are brightly painted and hand-carved in the European tradition. A gasoline engine, situated near the 16-foot (4.9 m) center pole, drives the carousel. The structure is covered by a yellow and white canopy, which is topped with a small flag. The All Hallows Guild Carousel is one of only two carousels listed on the National Carousel Census in the District of Columbia. The other, the Smithsonian Carousel on the National Mall, is a larger, non-traveling carousel with 60 wood and metal composition figures built fifty years after the All Hallows Guild Carousel.

Location

Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
38.92885, -77.07042

Categories

ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

National Cathedral, The
Industrial
0.1 mi
Alban Towers Apartment Building
Industrial
0.2 mi
Babcock-Macomb House
Civil War
0.3 mi
Heurich-Parks House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Twin Oaks
Industrial
0.4 mi

Nearby Battles

DC Defenses — Fort DeRussy Engagement 1864
1864Civil War
2.9 mi
Fort Stevens — Early's Attack on Washington (July 11-12, 1864)
1864Civil War
3.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Traveling Carousel listed on the National Register?

Traveling Carousel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1997.

What type of historic resource is Traveling Carousel?

Traveling Carousel is classified as a object in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Traveling Carousel?

The period of significance for Traveling Carousel is recorded as the modern era, specifically around 1963.

Can I research the history near Traveling Carousel?

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