Ferry County Carousel

The Ferry County Carousel is an all-wood carousel of 24 horses in two rows of twelve, mounted on a traveling country-fair mechanism with a jumping action. Its horses show three carving periods, with mane styles traced to the Armitage Herschell and Herschell Spillman companies and two horses thought carved by Charles Dare. Belly mounts show it was originally track driven; the track was replaced by a 1935 Hatfield Engineering mechanism.

The carousel's build date is unrecorded, but its simple horses place it between 1890 and 1900, made by Armitage Herschell or Herschell Spillman. Its original owner is unknown; belly mounts show it was track-driven until a 1935 Hatfield Engineering mechanism converted it to jumping. Ferry County farmers found it in Tacoma in 1958, borrowed $2,000 to buy it, and hauled it to the fairgrounds on a wheat truck. In 1993 residents raised about $30,000 to restore it, and the county agreed never to sell it outside Ferry County.

Many horses are named and painted after horses known or owned by their sponsors, and the Keller 4-H club's horse "Running Brave" carries feathers in its mane, war paint and a 4-H clover on its saddle blanket. The zebra "Echo Babe", the carousel's only new animal and its spare, was donated by Tacoma carver Joanne Sessions with sponsorship from the local mining company so children could ride a zebra. Running boards show county landscapes, and 540 lights could be sponsored for $10 in a child's name.

The carousel is located at the Ferry County Fairgrounds and offers rides during the fair, typically around Labor Day. A covered building with restrooms and a meeting space provides year-round access and weather protection.

The carousel's spare mount is not a horse but a zebra, "Echo babe", the only new figure on the machine. Sponsored by the local mining company, it was donated by Tacoma carver Joanne Sessions so children could ride a zebra. A memorial board painted by a Republic High School senior shows the 540 sponsored lights and where to find each one.