The New England Carousel Museum

The New England Carousel Museum is dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and preservation of operating carousels and carousel memorabilia and the creation of new carousel material, for the education and pleasure of the general public.

The main mission of the New England Carousel Museum, a non-profit organization, is to preserve and protect antique wooden carousels and carousel pieces.

We believe that the way to accomplish this task is through education. We are in the business of educating the children, who are the next generation of carousel lovers.

Exhibits

Carousel Museum’s Permanent Collection
Travel back in time to when the carousel was the pinnacle of amusement park joy. Now on view, over 100 years of carousel art and history are on view in our Main Gallery and throughout our 33,000 square foot building. See examples from turn of the century carvers like Dentzel, Herschell Spillman and Stein and Goldstein. A sample carving bay, hands on activities for little ones and our Venetian indoor carousel make this the perfect family or group outing.

The Museum of Fire History
Discover a fascinating array of fire-fighting and fire house signaling equipment and memorabilia. Wonderfully displayed with alarms to pull, sirens to set off and bells to ring. The Fire Museum is available for school groups and adult tours.
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The Museum of Fire History is made possible by the generous donation by Carlyle “Hap” Barnes in 2002 and is supported by the Barnes Foundation.
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Participation in Museum Day is open to any tax-exempt or governmental museum or cultural venue on a voluntary basis. Smithsonian magazine encourages museum visitation, but is not responsible for and does not endorse the content of the participating museums and cultural venues, and does not subsidize museums that participate.