Heritage Museums & Gardens | Carousel

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A black, white, and dark blue striped header image with the text Heritage Museums & Gardens Carousel

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. My first stop was Heritage Museums & Gardens (HMG) in Sandwich, MA. The first part of this six-part miniseries focused on the gardens, second part on J.K. Lilly III Automobile Gallery, the third on small buildings, a fourth covering art installations on the grounds, and the fifth on the reproduction Temple of Virtue. This sixth and final post highlights the delightful Looff carousel.

Horses on 1908 Looff Carousel Wide view of the 1908 Looff Carousel Organ at the center of the 1908 Looff Carousel

I would be remiss not to mention my long-term interest in carousels and their history. I visited the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, CT back in 2022, and I created a documentary on the Looff Carousel at Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket, RI for its 125th birthday in 2022. This 1908 Looff Carousel, with excellent signage and unlimited rides, was a great find. Like other carousels of its kind, the the one at HMG was created by Danish American Charles I.D. Looff. He launched his carousel career by building the first ride at Coney Island in 1876 and led the production of about forty carousels in his lifetime through his factories in Brooklyn, NY and Riverside, RI. Maybe a quarter of these survive, and I believe I have seen three of them, the third being Crescent Park Looff Carousel in East Providence, RI. Looff was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2005.

Floor to ceiling colorful sign on the process of creating carousel animals Floor to ceiling sign on the life of Charles Looff and the parts of a carousel A sign for a scavenger hunt to find designs on the carousel

Colorful signage around the carousel gave great facts, including how carousel horses were made, unique animals on the carousel, and the real horsehair used on the tails. Artifacts from the museum collections were stored in cases around the building. A violin made by David Crowell Percival of Sandwich, MA in 1840 still had a full set of strings, a rarity for an instrument in a museum collection. A portion of Josiah K. Lilly Jr.’s miniature military figures once kept in the Temple of Virtue was displayed in another case. The museum recently acquired a fire bucket from Sandwich, as no New England historical museum is complete without one.

A handmade violin created in 1840 Sandwich, MA Fire Bucket Miniature Soldiers from the collection of Josiah K. Lilly, Jr.

Visiting Heritage Museums & Gardens was a fun, educational, and relaxing experience. With such a wide range of activities, visitors of all ages and interests would enjoy their time on the grounds. Tickets are $22 for adults, $12 for youth age 3 to 17, and $0 for children 2 and under, along with members of HGM, AAM, AHS and their family, active military personnel and their families for specific dates, library pass holders, members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, NARM, ROAM, and Card to Culture holders. Other discounts are listed on the museum’s Reciprocal Admission page. The museum closes for the year on this Sunday, October 20, but will be open daily once again in the spring from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Winter programming will take place in November and December. I highly encourage anyone visiting the Cape to spend a day at this unique attraction.

I wear thick-rimmed glasses and have shoulder-length wavy hair. The horse is tan and maybe smiling.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 9/10

Accessibility: 8/10



Location: Heritage Museums & Gardens, 67 Grove St, Sandwich, MA 02563, USA