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Albany, Oregon is well known for its volunteer run carousel. The concept for the carousel started back in 2002 when local Wendy Kirbey, was on a trip to Missoula and saw the effect that a carousel there had on revitalizing the community. She hoped that her proposed carousel would revitalize Albany’s downtown. All of the animals are hand crafted by local artisans, ranging from beginners who’ve never picked up the tools to seasoned artist who’ve volunteered over 1500 collective hrs per animal. The heart of the carousel is a restored 1909 mechanism that took ten years to restore under the guidance of former engineer Carl Baker. Head carver Jack Giles has been helping volunteers create the animals we see today on the carousel and the ones we will see in the future. Initially Giles thought he was signing onto a five year project, it’s been 22 years in the making, and a great connector of the community. The carousel officially opened its doors to the public on August 15th, 2017. 

Animals shown are a Hippocampus named The guardian and an imperial zebra named Zeus. Zeus is one of two zebras on the carousel. All of the animals and details seen are hand carved and hand painted. 

Take the free museum tour and see the historical animal carving one of which is over 120 years old and the future animal carvings in process to be on rotation for seasonal updates and general carousel maintenance. The carousel opened with 33 animals in 2017 but has the capability of 52 at any given time. Photo taken in the below ground workshop, a portion of the museum tour November 23, 2024 


Mike is one of the amazing volunteers who has made the community carousel possible. Concentrating on crafting the final touches on the tail of a dog, Mike took a moment to explain the dowel and screw system used to attach separate parts of the overall animal. The dowel will act as the main support and the screw will be hidden reinforcement. November 23,2024 

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