New Mexico

Roswell

Spring River Park

Spring River Park in Roswell, New Mexico is home to what the National Carousel Association describes as a “Spillman Engineering/Mix” (The sign on the carousel attributes it to Herschell Spillman.). The carousel was donated to Roswell in 1971 by Marianne Stevens (1929-2012). Carousel history described Stevens as “a pillar in, if not grande dame of, the close-knit world of antique wooden Carousel lovers and afficionados.” See the article in the Roswell Daily Record referenced below.

The 3-row carousel was manufactured in 1927 and consists of 20 jumpers, one stander and several menagerie figures including 3 roosters, 2 dogs, 1 pig, 1 lion, 2 deer, 1 rhino, 1 cow, 1 tiger, 1 swan, 1 zebra, 1 ostrich. There are 2 chariots, one by Muller and one by Dentzel on the platform. Apparently, in its early days in Roswell, the population of figures on the platform changed regularly as Mrs. Stevens interchanged figures from her personal collection.

The carousel was at Rainbow Gardens in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania from 1927 to 1971 when it was moved to Spring River Park.

For information on operating times access the website at https://roswell-nm.gov/279/Spring-River-Zoo.

For further information:

The National Carousel Association

https://carousels.org/USACensus/stdqueries/census-CLA.html

Roswell Daily Record

Marianne Stevens http://www.rdrnews.com/archive/?p=55797

Rounding Boards