{"nrhp_refnum":"97001618","name":"Twentieth Century Steam Riding Gallery No. 409","other_names":["Schenevus Carousel"],"category":"object","location":{"address":"Race St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Schenevus","county":"Otsego County","state":"NY","lat":42.54687787600005,"lon":-74.82641041399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-01-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A forty-foot Twentieth Century Steam Riding Gallery (track carousel), No. 409, built by the Herschell-Spillman Company of North Tonawanda, New York, around 1908-1909. It sits in a 1954 wooden pavilion in Borst Field, the village park on Race Street in Schenevus, Otsego County.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an extremely rare and intact example of an early carousel type in which the horses rock back and forth rather than rise and fall. Only four or five of the well over four hundred built are known to survive. It also represents one of the leading American carousel makers and has been a focus of community life in Schenevus since 1949.","narrative":"This forty-foot carousel in Schenevus, Otsego County, is a Twentieth Century Steam Riding Gallery numbered 409, built around 1908 by the Herschell-Spillman Company of North Tonawanda. Unlike most carousels, its horses rock back and forth, driven by an eccentric, while the platform rolls on wheels along a circular track. It has twenty-four hand-carved wooden horses with glass eyes and horsehair tails, four chariots carved with scenes such as Mother Goose and a dragon slayer, and original oil paintings on canvas around the hub. Only four or five of this type are known to survive. Its first thirty years of history are unknown. In the 1940s it belonged to Cooperstown groups, and in 1949 the C.H. Graham Hose Company bought it for $1,500 and moved it to Schenevus. It has since anchored the annual Firemen's Carnival in Borst Field, a World War II memorial park. A 1954 pavilion shelters it, and a 1992 restoration repaired the horses. The steam engine was replaced by an electric motor.","period_of_significance":"c1908","architect_builder":"Herschell-Spillman Co.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still operating, powered by an electric motor in place of the original steam engine; horses restored in 1992 and chariot restoration planned. Used annually at the Schenevus Firemen's Carnival.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.4465-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/97001618.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001618/e467918c13-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97001618/e467918c13-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Richard Whitby","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schenevus_Carousel.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Whitby</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schenevus_Carousel.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320998","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Century_Steam_Riding_Gallery_No._409","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7857707"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/otsego-county/twentieth-century-steam-riding-gallery-no-409-97001618/"}