Museum Guide News

The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum, in North Tonawanda, NY is one of a kind!

Operated by the Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier, is a premier national historic site and community resource for family recreation. Through educational, cultural, and recreational programming, visitors will experience the places, people, stories, and artifacts associated with the production of carousels, band organs, and amusement devices.

The Allan Herschell Company, founded in North Tonawanda, New York, was the fourth in a series of companies in the community which manufactured carousels and other amusement park rides. It was Allan Herschell who first came up with the idea of a carrousel museum!

It’s been over 46 years since the concept of a carrousel museum in North Tonawanda was initiated. 10 people sat around a table in the Carnegie Art Center to discuss the possibility of bringing a carrousel back to North Tonawanda, a city in which more hand carved carrousels were produced than the total of all other US cities that created them.

One of the special exhibits, is the carving floor of the Allan Herschell Company. It's where carousel animals originally began to take shape. Carvers worked from large line drawings of animals. First, the sketch was traced onto basswood or poplar. After the carvers finished the details, the parts were then glued together and smoothed before the animal was moved to the paint shop in the next room. In later years, the Allan Herschell Company began to make animals using cast aluminum.

Another wonderful exhibit is the “The Jeanette E. Jones Children's Gallery”.  This room was originally the machine shop for the Allan Herschell Company where workers produced the metal parts for carousels and other amusement rides. It is now our children’s space in the museum. Today, the Children’s Gallery holds our Kiddie Carrousel and many interactive activities for families to enjoy when visiting the museum. The space is a festive place to hold a birthday party or baby shower. Check our rentals page for more information!

The Museum is perfect for all ages and bring the carrousel beginning and history back to life! Come visit this summer – for more information see us online: https://www.carrouselmuseum.org/  716-693-1885