Lakeside Park Carousel

The Lakeside Park Carousel was carved by Charles I.D. Looff between 1898 and 1905 in Brooklyn, New York. The animals were carved by Looff's factory workers, including Marcus Illions, who worked for Looff at the time.^[1] The carousel's rounding boards and scenery panels were built by George William Kremer, and are similar in appearance to those found on the Knoebels Grand Carousel, which is the only other Kremer carousel still in operation.^[2]

In 1921, the carousel was moved from its original location at Scarborough Beach Park in Scarborough, Ontario, to its first location in Port Dalhousie nearer Lake Ontario (on the beach!). At the time, Lakeside Park had 58 attractions. The Lakeside Park Carousel is the only remaining attraction at Lakeside Park, and is now owned by the city of St. Catharines.^[1] In early 1980s (i.e. 1982 - 1984), the carousel was fully dismantled and moved to its current location half way between the beach and parking at the West of the park. It is important to note how the city of St. Catharines acquired the carousel via a complex chain. It started with the original owner Sid Brookson who operated the other attractions at Lakeside park. In 1970, Dorothy Crabtree ^[3] purchased the carousel from Sid Brookson and eventually transferred ownership to the City of St. Catharines with two clauses: the price of a ride will be 5 Cents forever and the Carousel must stay in Port Dalhousie.^[4]

The carousel has 68 hand-carved wooden animals, including horses, lions, camels, goats and giraffes. The carousel also has four chariots. The animals on the carousel still have real horsehair tails.^[1]