First Circuits: Carousels

During the 19th & early 20th centuries, trolley parks were created by trolley companies to connect city dwellers with nearby recreation and picnic areas to offer some refuge in hot weather. Lighthouse Point was one of these trolley parks along the shoreline of New Haven. The Lighthouse Point Carousel was one of the main attractions for visitors to the park. It was built around 1911-1916 and contains hand-carved horses and chariots. It is one of fewer than 100 classic, hand-carved carousels still operating today. We will spend the week exploring the features of this carousel and then designing our own model carousel. Not only will our model be beautiful to look at, but it will have moving parts made possible through electrical circuitry.