C.W. Parker Carousel Museum

The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, also known as the Leavenworth Carousel Museum, is located in Leavenworth, Kansas and is one of several museums sponsored by the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association. Opened in 2005, the building houses carousels that are historically registered, as well as a C.W. Parker cylinder piano, an Artizan A-X-1 band organ, and a Wurlitzer 153 Band Organ. It also has several reproduced or repaired carousel horses.
Charles Wallace Parker (C. W. Parker) manufactured the first Carry-Us-All amusement ride in 1898. This invention was such a success that his quickly growing company in Abilene was moved to Leavenworth, Kansas.
The Carousel Museum is a non-profit organization that operates through community donations and volunteer efforts.
Features.
The carousels housed within the walls of this building are the 1913 Carousel, The Liberty Carousel, and the primitive carousel.
Background.
The C.W Parker Carousel Museum is sponsored by the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, and is listed as "One of the Eight Wonders of Kansas" (First City Museums). The building is located on the eastern side of downtown Leavenworth, Kansas. Just to the east sits the Missouri River. The historical pieces housed within this building have all been donated, are on loan, or have been paid for through memorial funds or donated funds. Each piece required a significant amount of restoration.
Restoration.
Each wooden carousel horse that is attached to the operational carousel required several hours of restoration labor. Upon arrival to the museum, many of these artifacts dated close to 100 years old, and had an original life expectancy of around five years. Due to wood rot, many of the horses had to be completely re-carved by hand. The process of re-carving utilized the same primitive tools that would have been used in the original making. It is estimated that thousands of hours of labor were volunteered to complete the projects. To keep with historical building styles, each horse contains wooden dowels instead of nails (Reinhardt,2014).