Today is National Merry-Go-Round Day! Hessville, Ohio was the site of the first United States created merry-go-round. The plaque in Hessville reads: On this site, in the 1840s, was built the first Merry-Go-Round in the United States. Franz Wiesenhoffer, a deaf-mute German immigrant, was employed here by J. Kechele, a wagon maker. Wiesenhoffer spent his evenings carving lifelike figures of horses, deer, and lions which he used in constructing the Merry-Go-Round, which was first erected in the Kechele yard. First operated by hand, later by horse power, it was hauled from town to town on a specially constructed wagon. After some months of being hauled about it was taken to Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania, where it was sold to a New York firm which is still active in the Merry-Go-Round business.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 13:42:12 +0000
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