Carousel at Lighthouse Point Park

The Carousel at Lighthouse Point Park is a beloved historic facility in the town of New Haven. The park is also home to a variety of spaces that can be used for private parties, weddings and celebrations. It offers great views of Long Island Sound and the New Haven Harbor. The area offers a boardwalk that runs parallel to the beach, as well as the Shore Shack where visitors can grab a bite to eat or refreshing beverage. The carousel is open during the summer hours on Saturdays and Sundays. It runs every 20 minutes and can be ridden for just 50 cents. Guests will need to pay $10 for parking in order to access Lighthouse Point Park. The carousel was constructed at the height of the carousel age when more than 10,000 of its type were in operation during the early 20th century. Today, there are less than 100 still in existence today. The carousel features 72 figures on a 60-foot platform. The carousel was the most popular activity in the park for many years, but over time people began to lose interest and the carousel deteriorated. A combination of harsh weather and neglected combined to close down the carousel in 1977. The creatures were broken down and put into storage and the Wurlitzer organ stopped playing. In 1980, the mayor of New Haven gathered a group of citizens to restore the carousel. Within a short time, the figures had been cleaned and the carousel had been rebuilt.