Flying Horses Carousel

The Flying Horses Carousel was built in New York in the 1870s and first turned at Coney Island before it was brought to Martha's Vineyard in the 1880s, where it has stayed ever since. It dates from the very early days of the American carousel, and its survival is remarkable, for most carousels of its era were lost long ago to fire, decay, or changing tastes.

Because it is a platform carousel, an early design in which the horses are fixed to a rotating floor rather than rising on poles, it represents a stage in the history of the merry-go-round that has almost vanished. That, along with its great age and its original hand-carved horses, is why it carries the rare distinction of a National Historic Landmark, an honor more often given to battlefields and grand buildings than to a ride at the shore.

The carousel's horses are true antiques, carved from wood by skilled hands and finished with details that mass-produced rides never had: manes and tails of real horsehair, glass eyes, and painted trappings worn smooth by generations of riders. They circle at a steady, gentle pace that suits riders of every age, from small children to grandparents recapturing a childhood memory.

The best-loved tradition is the brass ring. As the horses turn, a mechanical arm dispenses metal rings within reach of the outer riders, who lean out to grab them one by one. Most are plain, but hidden among them is the coveted brass ring, and the rider who snatches it wins a free turn. Generations of Vineyard children have learned the knack of the reach, and the ritual is a large part of what keeps the carousel beloved.

By the later twentieth century the aging carousel faced an uncertain future, as such fragile old rides often do. It was rescued and is now cared for by a local preservation trust dedicated to protecting the treasures of Martha's Vineyard, which keeps the horses restored, the machinery running, and the brass-ring tradition alive for new generations.

That stewardship is why the carousel remains not a museum piece behind glass but a working ride that children still climb aboard every summer. Its careful preservation stands as a small triumph of a community choosing to hold onto a piece of its shared joy, so that the same horses that carried Victorian-era children still carry the children of today.

The carousel sits in the heart of Oak Bluffs, one of the most colorful towns on Martha's Vineyard. The town grew up around a nineteenth-century Methodist camp meeting, and its famous Campground is a wonderland of tiny, brightly painted gingerbread cottages ringing an open-air tabernacle, a sight unlike anywhere else in New England. The harbor, the beaches, and a lively main street are all close by.

From Oak Bluffs the rest of the Vineyard opens up: the whaling-era elegance of Edgartown, the fishing village of Menemsha, and the dramatic clay cliffs of Aquinnah at the island's western tip, the homeland of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), who remain a vital presence on the island today. The carousel makes a perfect first stop, an old-fashioned joy right where the ferries land.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.