Building Oregon
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- Alternative Title
- Oaks Park Carousel (Portland, Oregon)
- Herschell Spillman Noah's Artk Carousel (Portland, Oregon)
- Creator Display
- Herschel-Spillman Company (builder/contractor)
- Creator
- Photographer
- Date
- 1926
- 1913
- Description
- National Register of Historic Places (Listed, 1987)
- View
- interior: detail of lion.
- Temporal
- 1910-1919
- 1920-1929
- MODS Note
- "The Oaks Park Carousel is a three-row menagarie machine manufactured by the Herschen-Spillman Company. It measures 48 feet in diameter* The bi-level platform measures 6 feet 9 inches in width, and carries both horse and animal standers* The second level platform carries two rows of horse and animal jumpers, and measures 4 feet 9 inches. All totaled, there are 46 hand-carved wooden animals mounted on brass poles, including a pair each of cats, dogs, zebras, ostriches, mules, pigs, roosters and giraffes. For this reason, the machine is called the "Noah's Ark" carousel. Also on board this machine are four frogs, a stork, a dragon, lion and lioness, a doe, goat and an extremely rare kangaroo. Completing the array are the 19 horses. The carousel animals have glass eyes, except for some of the menagerie figures which have painted carved eyes. The carousel is decorated with 18 rounding boards and shields studded with cast metal masques of seven different designs. Around the hub, enclosing the drive system of the machine, are 18 lighted scenery panels mounted below the sweeps and 18 lighted panels above the sweeps. The original painted scenes which were on these panels are beginning to reappear through scenes which were painted over them during a long-ago refurbishment. The carousel is housed in its own building situated on the Oaks Park Amusement concourse. The housing specially designed for the machine is an octagonal building of post and beam construction, 75 feet in diameter in its ground plan. A blind, pyramidal-roofed octagonal cupola having board and batten sidinq surmounts the structure, which is supported by braced posts encircling the perimeter. The metal roofing is a recent replacement. The pavilion is traditional in form and dates from the earliest years of the carousel's operation at The Oaks Amusement Park (1926 onward). It is, therefore, counted as a separately-contributing resource. In fair weather, panels are removed and the base of the building is open to the weather. The Oaks Amusement Park is situated on the east bank of the Willamette River in southeast Portland. " Source: National Register Nomination.
- "Out of the bankrupt parent company of Armitage-Herschell, the Herschell-Spillman Company was formed in 1901. In 1906, Herschell-Spillman bought the parent company, obtaining its patents, stock and equipment. By 1911, the company was producing both track and jumping action carousels. In time, the Herschell-Spillman Company changed its style from unadorned steeds to more elaborately carved animals. The Company was noted for its extensive assortment of menagerie animals and was well known for its carvings of frogs, cats, roosters, ostriches and dogs. The company's hub panels and founding boards were mainly in the form of painted scenes. The Oaks Park Carousel boasts 36 such paintings." Source: National Register Nomination.
- Subject
- Work Type
- Location
- Street Address
- 5 Southeast Spokane Street
- GPS Latitude
- 45.465125
- GPS Longitude
- -122.66357
- Identifier
- pna_06003
- Item Locator
- 726 AmO P83p H438 06; 90-02517;
- Source
- Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/SHPO/
- Provenance
- Design Library, University of Oregon Libraries
- Is Part Of
- Oaks Amuseument Park (Portland, Oregon)
- Institution
- Conversion
- This image is derived from a master TIFF (3000 x 5000 pixel, 16 bit) created by scanning a 35m slide which remains as the archival artifact. Digital editing may have included cropping, color correction, and removal of dust, scratch, or other artifacts reproduced in the scanning process.
- Submission Date
- 04/28/2015
- Modified
- 07/25/2022
- Collections
- Building Oregon (open)
APA
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. (15 May 2024). Herschell-Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel (Portland, Oregon) Retrieved from https://oregondigital.org/concern/images/df67mj964
MLA
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. "Herschell-Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel (Portland, Oregon)" Oregon Digital. 15 May 2024. https://oregondigital.org/concern/images/df67mj964
Chicago
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. "Herschell-Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel (Portland, Oregon)" Oregon Digital. Accessed 2024-05-15. https://oregondigital.org/concern/images/df67mj964
Wiki
{{cite web | url= https://oregondigital.org/concern/images/df67mj964 | title= Herschell-Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel (Portland, Oregon) |author= |accessdate= 2024-05-15 |publisher= }}
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