 The Broad Ripple Park Carousel was installed in 1917 in an amusement park on the outskirts of Indianapolis , Indiana . The White City Amusement Park had been established in 1906 in what is now Broad Ripple Village , alongside the White River . In 1908 a fire caused damage throughout the park , and only the swimming pool remained unscathed . The park closed for three years until its purchase by the Union Traction Company , which restored it and operated it for eleven years . The carousel was installed during the Union Traction Company 's ownership . The park was sold in May 1922 to the new Broad Ripple Amusement Park Association , and renamed Broad Ripple Park . In 1927 the park was sold again , and changed hands once more in 1938 . The Board of Parks Commission of Indianapolis bought the property on May 18 , 1945 , paying $ 131 @,@ 500 ( approximately $ 1 @.@ 73 million as of 2016 ) for the 60 @-@ acre ( 24 @-@ hectare ) tract , and turned the property into a general @-@ use park , destroying all rides it could not sell . The board 's original plan was to sell the carousel and the narrow @-@ gauge railway rides . Only the carousel remained in Indianapolis after it was unsold ; the steam locomotive is now at the Indiana Transportation Museum at Noblesville , Indiana . 
