page_title: Charles I. D. Looff
section_title: Rhode Island years
hierarchical_section_title: Charles I. D. Looff / Rhode Island years
caption_attribution_description: English: The Flying Horses, Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts. Installed by Charles I. D. Looff at Coney Island from 1890-1905, the hand-carved carousel operated here from 1914-1976. It was moved to Seaport Village, San Diego, California in 1980.
context_page_description: Charles I. D. Looff was a German master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides, who immigrated to the United States of America in 1870. Looff built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. During his lifetime, he built over 40 carousels, several amusements parks, numerous roller coasters and Ferris wheels, and built California's famous Santa Monica Pier. He became famous for creating the unique Coney Island style of carousel carving.
context_section_description: In 1886, Colonel George Boyden established an amusement park named Crescent Park in Riverside, Rhode Island, on 50 acres (200,000 m²) overlooking Narragansett Bay. Boyden commissioned Charles I. D. Looff to build a large carousel at the head of a 400-foot (120 m) pier that received throngs of people from the steamboats that cruised up and down the bay. Crescent Park became known as "the Coney Island of the East" during this time.
  
  In 1895, Looff built a larger and more elaborate carousel overlooking the midway. This beautiful ride contains 61 horses, 1 camel, 2 single chariots, and 2 double chariots. He used this ride as a showpiece for prospective buyers to choose the types of carved horses for their machines. Looff built his workshop adjoining the carousel. Here he would produce many merry-go-rounds for amusement parks in New England and across the United States. Looff's daughter, Helen, and her husband Charles Simmons bought the ride from Looff's widow's estate in 1930. This carousel, now owned by the city of East Providence, Rhode Island, has been fully restored, is still operating in its original location and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In 1985, the Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the carousel as the "State Jewel of American Folk Art". In 1987, the National Park Service designated the carousel as a National Historic Landmark.
  Charles Looff's son, Charles Jr., worked in the shop carving saddles and chariots for his father. In 1920, young Charles purchased Crescent Park and operated it until his death in 1925 at age 44. Charles Jr. built an excursion boat, which he named the Miss Looff in honor of his sister, Anna, which cruised the waters of Narragansett Bay, bringing customers from Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, to Crescent Park. Charles Jr. married Emma Simmons, the sister of Charles Simmons, who had married Helen Looff.
  In the early 1900s, Looff built carousels and figure-8 roller coasters for the Texas and Oklahoma state fairs.
  In 1909, Charles I. D. Looff built a beautiful carousel with 54 horses and presented it to his daughter, Emma, as a wedding present, when she married Louis Vogel. The ride was installed at Natatorium Park in Spokane, Washington. This ride has been restored and operates today at Riverfront Park in Spokane.
caption: The Flying Horses (1890), reinstalled at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts 1914-1976
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