Paragon Park, and the horse-by-horse restoration.
George A. Dodge built Paragon Park on Nantasket Beach in 1905. It ran for more than eighty years and closed in 1985.
1928, PTC #85
Built in 1928 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company: PTC #85. The carousel is the last remaining attraction from Paragon Park, and one of fewer than a hundred grand carousels left in the United States.
1985
In 1985 the carousel was bought at auction. Its new owners decided it needed a full, period-correct restoration, not a touch-up, and asked James Hardison to lead it.
The horses' bodies were often natural colours, chestnut and dapple gray, with the carved trappings painted bright and gilded. More than half have been returned to their original scheme.
Stripping the motor-house surround revealed its original motif; lifting an old countertop at the control station uncovered faux marbling, now recreated there and on four more columns.
How a horse comes back
- Strip the layers of “park paint” with a heat gun
- Sand back to the original basswood
- Prime
- Paint by hand in traditional Japan Colors
- Finish with several coats of varnish
The Paragon Park Museum
The Paragon Park Museum keeps artifacts, memorabilia, videos, storyboards and a model roller coaster, and you can watch the horses being restored in the studio.
Who keeps it turning
The carousel is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, kept running by a small team of staff and volunteers on donations and grants.
James Hardison is the carousel’s Restoration Curator.