Kids Fun on the Mall
The 1940s era carousel on the National Mall is a fun experience for young kids and a perfect photo op for their parents.
On the grounds of the National Mall and view of the Capitol Building carousel with the brightly painted horses, dragons and classic carousel music is sure to delight the little ones.
The carousel on the Mall was manufactured by The Allen Herschell Co., a company that initially manufactured steam boilers. Allan Herschell, a company co-founder, on the advice of his doctor to get out of the boiler-making business because of his lung ailment, made his first carousel in 1883. It had simple rocking horses and was powered by a steam engine. Within five years, the company was shipping a new carousel each day.
After several name changes, reorganizations and a bankruptcy, the carousel company became a leader in kiddie rides for carnivals. Over the next century it developed amusement rides such as the Caterpillar, Whiz Bang, Twister, Flying Bobs, and the Looper along with small, portable roller coasters, miniature train rides and the Dodgem bumper cars.
The Carousel on The National Mall
1000 Jefferson Dr., SW – across the Mall from the National Museum of Natural History and down the street form the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building
Washington, DC 20560
Dates and Times – Daily (weather permitting) 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tickets – $1.75
Nearest Metro subway station – Smithsonian – Blue and Orange lines and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter – Green and Yellow lines
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Tags: Washington DC, DC, Washington, travel, Washington DC travel, travel, vacation, b5 media, tourist information, local attractions, site seeing, The DC Traveler, DC travel information, Carousel
2 Comments
Do you know that I can’t even remember the last time I was on a carousel… but it has to have been years and years.
Now the Flying Bob… that’s sounds awfully familiar!
[...] some background and history on the carousel, check out my post from last June with more [...]