Kit Carson County Carousel (Burlington, CO)
Kit Carson County Carousel Wooden Token
This is the second time we have visited the Kit Carson Carousel. It sits on the edge of the Kit Carson County fairgrounds in the small town of Burlington, Colorado. The first time we visited the carousel we were driving Interstate 70 from Colorado to Kansas to visit family. We were looking for a good place to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs. It was such a neat place to visit we told other family members about it and the next time we were driving through we stopped to share the experience with them!
The carousel was #6 of the 74 carousels made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was made in 1905 for the Elitch Gardens amusement park and was used until 1927. In 1928 Kit Carson County purchased the carousel for $1,200 (the price included shipping).
The carousel animals are stationary with three animals per row. The original Wurlitzer band organ has been restored and plays music when the carousel is in motion. The carousel is inside a 12 sided framed building on the edge of the fair grounds with a museum and small gift shop beside it. It is the only antique carousel that still has the original paint on both the panels and animals. Most modern carousel go approximately 8 mph, however, the Kit Carson one goes a whopping 12 mph.
The carousel has quite an interesting history. During the Great Depression the carousel spent several years in storage. They local town stored grain inside the building that housed the carousel. At one point 3 of the animals were stolen and later found in another state. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and National Historic Landmark in 1987.
If you are in the area or driving through on I70 we would encourage you to stop and explore this neat carousel. It only costs 25 cents to ride the carousel and $1 to visit the museum.
Riding the Kit Carson County Carousel
Flowers at the Kit Carson Carousel
Going for another ride on the carousel!
All smiles!
Kit Carson Carousel building
Other side of the wooden token!
Charleston: Historic Nathaniel Russell House
Getting ready to tour the Nathaniel Russell House which is located near downtown Charleston. Nathaniel Russell moved to Charleston when he was in his 20’s and began his career as a shipping merchant. His exportation of items such as rice, cotton, tobacco, and indigo would go from Charleston to West Africa, New England, Asia, West Indies, England, Europe, South America and more. Around the time of the American Revolution he was also known to transport African slaves as well.
Nathaniel Russell married a Sarah Hopton who was the daughter of a wealthy merchant who was established before the American Revolution. They had two children, Alicia and Sarah. Later the house would owned by other people such as Governor Allston and once it was used as a school for the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy for over 30 years. When the Historic Charleston Foundation received the house they went to work restoring both it’s interior and architectural structure back to what it was like when Nathaniel Russell owned it.
The Nathaniel Russell house contained beautiful rooms. There were many layers of paint, wallpaper, and more on the interior that had to be carefully striped away and be restored. Some of the fireplaces we saw in the house had as many as thirty layers of paint and the details were barely noticeable until they started carefully striping away all layers. Fascinating! The house has a huge beautiful spiral staircase that goes up three floors. Although, the house was very large especially for that time the stairs actually take up about half of the house. Every section of the house was built in a different shape from a square, oval, circle, etc…. It was a gorgeous house meant for showing off wealth, not necessarily for the most effective use of space. They had beautiful gold and decorative wallpaper, mirrors, and more. The house had a pretty ballroom with a high ceiling and mirrors. It would have been amazing traveling back in time to see this house during it’s original glory. Most of the furniture pieces are not original, but are from that period of time. I am thankful for an opportunity to see a glimpse of this neat house.
Front of the Nathaniel Russell house. The picture was taken from the front sidewalk.
Part of the Nathaniel Russell gardens.
They do not allow pictures inside the house so here is a glimpse of the staircase, but it really doesn’t do it justice. Pretty amazing to see in person.
The side of the house near the gardens. This side you can see the circular shape, the second story with the balcony contains the beautiful mirrored ballroom.
If you look closely you can see the “NR” initials for Nathaniel Russell in the iron balcony.
Another house the girls and I toured in Charleston was the Nataniel Russell House.
Charleston: Historic Heyward-Washington House
The girls hanging out by the kitchen at the Heyward-Washington House. The kitchen house contained all the cooking, washing, and upstairs it has a servants quarters.
The girls and I visited The Heyward-Washington House when we were in Charleston recently. We got there a few moments before the tour so we were able to spend some time walking through the Heyward-Washington House kitchen and gardens. It was nice to take a walk through the gardens first thing in the morning. We were so excited to explore we didn’t get a picture of the front of the house.
Thomas Heyward, Jr was the owner of this house. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was in the militia during the American Revolution. During President George Washington’s stay in Charleston he stayed at the Heyward-Washington House. In the late 1700’s the house sold to John F. Grimke. Grimke served in the Revolutionary War and the father of Sarah and Angeline Grimke. Sarah and Angeline were known for speaking out against slavery and were asked to leave Charleston. Earlier this year the Brina had done a research project on Angeline Grimke so that was really neat to find out her family lived in this house. It was Charleston’s first historic home that was turned into a museum.
Girls in the kitchen. It must have been a super busy kitchen many years ago.
Touring the gardens of the Heyward-Washington House.
Walking through the gardens checking out all the plants.
Brina in the garden. She is very concerned we are going to miss the tour because we are walking through the gardens! She was good about keeping track of our time!
Beautiful purple flowers in the garden.
Touring the Heyward-Washington House! The girls were the only kids and the tour guide had them do a scavenger hunt looking for various items throughout the house. It made the tour a little more of an adventure for the girls and they earned a free gift at the end!
A neat house to explore! The Heyward-Washington House part of Historic Charleston!
