Sunday marks the last day to ride the 109-year-old hand-carved wooden horses on the Ovid Hazen Wells Carousel in Wheaton Regional Park as it will soon be on its way to Clarksburg, according to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).
It will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The carousel, which sits near the miniature train ride in the park at 2000 Shorefield Road, was on loan to Wheaton Regional Park as the Ovid Hazen Wells Recreational Park in Clarksburg was under development.
Though the carousel is moving on, a new carousel is coming to the Wheaton park next spring, according to the commission.
“We know how much this carousel means to the thousands of families who have ridden on it over the years,” Montgomery Parks division chief Christy Turnbull said in a Thursday news release. “But it is time for this beloved attraction to go to its intended home and we will bring a new carousel to Wheaton starting in the spring of 2025. This really is a win for both parks.”
According to the M-NCPPC, the Ovid Hazen Wells Carousel was built in 1915 and features 33 hand-carved horses, three zebras and two chariots.
Jim Wells, a concessionaire, operated the ride on the National Mall for the Smithsonian Institution from 1967 to 1981. In 1981, M-NCPPC bought the ride, according to the commission.
Wells’ aunt, Hallie Wells, donated her Clarksburg farm in 1981 for a future park dedicated to her late husband Ovid Hazen Wells. The land gift came with the stipulation that the carousel would eventually move to the park when it was developed. While the park was being developed, the ride was on loan to Wheaton Regional Park.
According to the M-NCPPC, a master plan for the Clarksburg park was adopted in 1995 and updates were approved in 2014. A plan for the 80-acre active recreation portion of the park was approved in 2015. The park now exists and is being completed in phases. The phase one expansion of the park, including a skate park, the carousel roundhouse with restrooms and a new playground, started July 1.
While the carousel will move to Clarksburg, the miniature train will stay at Wheaton Regional Park.
Tickets for a carousel ride are $3.50 each. Children younger than 2 can ride free with an accompanying adult.
