Two chariots, each pulled by a team of horses and accompanied by 20 additional steeds, spun Phoenix around upon their arrival in 1948. Since then, the carousel with its two rows of handcrafted wooden horses has delighted riders and become the centerpiece of many celebrations at Encanto Park, despite almost being lost to the public during park renovations in the late 1980s.

The wooden carousel was a unique feature of Kiddieland, a small amusement park with a folksy vibe and rides. The “Little Beauty” carousel was an important attraction built by the Allan Herschell Company in North Tonawanda, New York. Kiddieland was the idea of Frank Nelson, a dentist and former mayor of Sheldon, Iowa.

“He always used to build merry-go-rounds and swings for me in the backyard when I was little, and he wanted to do something for the children of Phoenix,” June Vance, Nelson’s daughter, said in a 1986 Arizona Republic article. “He had to go before the parks board and prove that he wasn’t a carnival-type person before they would let him build Kiddieland. My dad took care of the outside things, my mom sold tickets in the booth, and I ran the concession stand.”

The Kiddieland carousel in 1957.

Kiddieland remained mostly the same for 38 years, even after ownership changed twice following the deaths of Frank Nelson and his wife, Beulah, in the 1960s. However, the park closed when the city started a $4 million renovation of Encanto Park in 1986. All 11 rides from the park were auctioned the next day on Nov. 3.

Though Kiddieland had been showing its age, Phoenicians, including Athia Hardt and Toni Neary Harper, were heartbroken over the loss. While talking at a Saturday night Arizona State University football game, the two came up with the Encanto Carousel Fund to save the park’s most famous ride. By the next day, the fund had borrowed $50,000 to bid at Monday’s auction.

Channel 10’s Monica Lee interviewed Hardt on Sunday and asked how people could help preserve the carousel. “My former husband was at home babysitting our kids,” Hardt, a press secretary for Governors Babbitt and Mofford, recalls. “He was shocked to see our home phone number displayed on the screen. In seconds, the calls came pouring in.”

The Encanto Carousel Fund, however, was outbid by Estes Home President Ron Haarer. “After the auction, Linda Williams of Channel 10 brought me over to Haarer and asked him, on the air, if he would sell the carousel to our group if we could raise additional funds to match his offer. He gave us until December 31.”

The fundraising campaign attracted donations ranging from children’s piggy bank change to $20,000 from Charles Keating. “I’ve never even seen the damn thing and here I am writing a check,” John Kolbe, the late Phoenix Gazette columnist, wrote to Hardt. “Chalk it up to your brilliant persuasiveness—and a soft spot for anything that runs around in circles, goes nowhere, costs lots of money, and is not government.”

“This is a lot like the Statue of Liberty for Phoenix. We’re going to do it,” Hardt proclaimed in a 1986 Arizona Republic article. The coalition reached the fundraising goal on the final day. Additional donations and pro bono services from the Junior League of Phoenix, the AFL-CIO, and the Salt River Project helped restore the well-loved carousel.

The refurbished carousel sat in a warehouse for five long years before Kiddieland was reopened as the Enchanted Island Amusement Park on Nov. 5, 1991. The new park featured forest-green buildings with bright yellow roofs, carnival rides, and the famed carousel.

The famed carousel continues to rotate, but it isn’t going anywhere. The Encanto Carousel Fund gifted the ride to the city in 1998.

Douglas C. Towne is the editor of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, arizcc.com, the 2022 Arizona Historical Society's Al Merito Award winner.