By Rachel Knight
The year is 1930. The Great Depression grips America. A man named Hugh Darden is walking in a pasture adjacent to a railroad just outside Clay, a tiny town between College Station and Brenham. Something peculiar catches his eye. It looks like a little horse. He notices a whole team of 24 hobbyhorses surrounded by mechanical gears. He takes a second look. That’s when he realizes he’s just discovered a carousel.
This may sound like the beginning of a tall tale, but it’s actually the start of countless memories made at the Flying Horses Carousel in Brenham since it was restored and first opened in 1932.
The Flying Horses Carousel in Brenham is the oldest carousel in Texas, according to the National Carousel Association. Its charm is undeniable as the hand-carved wooden horses jump tirelessly in a circle. Riding this carousel is like floating on air in an antique artform that has been preserved by Washington County citizens for 89 years, according to Crystal Locke, community services specialist for the city of Brenham.
Locke has done extensive research on the Flying Horses Carousel. “After Darden found it, he saw this potential in this carousel and told the Washington County Fair Association about how it could serve the community,” Locke shares. “It was purchased for somewhere around $30.”
The carver of the hobbyhorses, Charles W. Dare, and manufacturer of the carousel’s frame, C.W. Parker, make the Flying Horses Carousel a unique piece from the Golden Age of Carousels in America.
“[Charles Dare] began building carousels as early as the late 1860s, and was credited with establishing this country fair style of animal carvings that you see at our Flying Horses Carousel,” Locke says.
Doug Baker, retired director of public works/city engineer for the city of Brenham, says the hobbyhorses themselves are worth taking a trip to Brenham to see. “Charles Dare’s trademark was the simple little-bitty horses with the big smiles,” he explains. “There aren’t a whole lot of those around. All the horses are jumpers, which means every pony goes up and down as the carousel spins. It’s something very special because of its age and uniqueness.”
The Flying Horses Carousel was originally believed to have been manufactured by Dare, but during a recent restoration, the city discovered the frame was made by C.W. Parker in Leavenworth Kansas, Locke says. C.W. Parker used a different blueprint from other manufacturers to build his carousels.
“It is unique because it has a floating floor,” explains Tammy Jaster, aquatic superintendent for the city of Brenham. “The whole structure is floating. There is not a track or anything underneath the actual floor, which makes it unique. A lot of them have a track or something underneath that helps them move around, but with this one, it all functions with all the gears and stuff on top.”
The Flying Horses Carousel has been a focal point in Fireman’s Park in Brenham since it was first restored. The Smithsonian came to Brenham and took pictures of the carousel while Baker was still working for the city around 1990. They told him the carousel was worth about $250,000. With inflation, it’s worth about $500,000 today.
“There’s a dilemma with antiques like this,” Baker says. “When you have something this valuable, do you put it in a glass case, or do you put the money in it to let the kids have the same experiences we did?”
When you visit Fireman’s Park, you might think the city chose to put the Flying Horses Carousel in a glass box, however the sixteen-sided building surrounding the carousel was actually built as a Works Progress Administration project in the Great Depression to protect the community gem, Locke shares.
Riding the Flying Horses Carousel is even more affordable today than it was in 1932. For $1 you can ride the carousel all day during regular operating hours, which are March through October on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm and on Sundays from 1pm to 4pm.
“I like preserving things,” Baker says. “I don’t like tearing things down just because it’s built differently today. The carousel is the same thing. Those horses were carved by hand by a guy named Dare, who had a tremendous talent for that. It should never be taken for granted. It’s part of who we are.”
Flying Facts and Memories
The Flying Horses Carousel has a long-running history in the Brazos Valley. It has been enjoyed by all ages, and continues to make memories year after year. Below, Jaster, Locke, and Baker share several fun facts and memories about the Flying Horses Carousel:
- The Flying Horses Carousel was originally built in 1912.
- It is estimated that about 4,000 carousels graced the U.S. during the Golden Age of the Carousel, which lasted from 1880 to 1930. There are now only five surviving classic wooden carousels in Texas today.
- The second oldest carousel in Texas is located in Giddings, but can only be enjoyed during the Lee County Fair on the third weekend in May and during their annual Fourth of July Celebration.
- There are three styles of carousel animals. The Philadelphia and Coney Island styles are very elaborate. The country fair style is more simple, because it was designed to be easily transported in moving carnivals.
- The Charles W. Dare horses were identified by their running martingale, which is the leather thong that links the bridle to the chest strap.
- The men who moved the carousel to Brenham for its original restoration were F.C. Winklemann, Hans Schleider, and O.H. Fisher.
- When the carousel was repaired in the 1980s, Gail Baker, an artist, and her father, carpenter Jack Sommers, worked together to restore the horses. The horses were painted to reflect the names they had been given; for example, “Tex” had a Texas Flag on his side and “Daisy’s” side featured daisies.
- The third time the carousel was restored, the city decided to try and match the original paint designs used by Dare. The original colors and designs are what visitors see on the carousel today.
- Thanks to a large donation from Blue Bell®, the third restoration also included replacing broken parts that could not be repaired. Luckily, original parts could still be purchased from Theel Manufacturing, the company who bought C.W. Parker Manufacturing Co. in the 1940s. The restoration also replaced boards that protected the carousel when it was not in use with bulletproof Lexan; so even when the carousel is not running, park visitors can admire the carousel.
- Dare originally used real horsehair to make the hobbyhorses’ tails. Those tails were replaced by unbraided hemp rope during the first restoration of the Flying Horses Carousel. The Brenham Noon Lions Club was running the carousel during one of its subsequent restorations, and decided to replace the rope with real horsehair. With four veterinarians in the Lions Club, they joked that they never had a shortage of horsehair.
- Baker found a wooden horse carved by Charles Dare at the Round Top Antiques Fair while he was still working for the city. The city purchased the horse for $2,000 so they would have a spare.
- Fireman’s Park, the park in which the Flying Horses Carousel resides, is a Lone Star Legacy Park. In addition to seeing, riding, and learning more about the Flying Horses Carousel, visitors can read signage about the park itself.
