Dentzel Carousel to close for first phase of renovation project

Published 5:44 am Friday, August 1, 2025

The Dentzel Carousel in Highland Park closed Friday and will be inaccessible for the next few months while renovation efforts are underway on the historic carousel house.

The renovation is the first phase of a project to restore the building, as well as the carousel animals. Phase I will include the structure, which will feature a new roof, windows and doors.

Funding for the project is made possible through a matching grant of $759,000 from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Phase I should be completed in five to six months, Meridian Parks and Recreation Director Thomas Adams said.

The department will apply for a second grant to complete the second phase, which will include the carousel animals, Adams said.

The Dentzel Carousel was manufactured in 1896 by Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and sold to the City of Meridian in 1909. A cabinetmaker by trade, Dentzel was a young German immigrant when he established his own factory in the United States in 1860.

The carousel has occupied its current location in Highland Park since the city purchased it.

In 1977, Meridian’s Dentzel Carousel and Carousel House, as well as Highland Park, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In October 1986, the Department of the Interior designated the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Carousel House as National Historic Landmarks. This honor was given to only 11 carousels nationwide, with Meridian’s being the only one located in the South.