1906 Looff carousel

This 1906 Looff carousel is located in San Francisco at the Zeum, an arts and technology center for kids, in Yerba Buena Gardens near the entrance to the Moscone Convention Center.

The carousel was originally destined for San Francisco, but because of the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was diverted to Seattle's Luna Park. A few years later, though, it was sent on to Playland-at-the-Beach in San Francisco, where it operated from 1914 to 1972.

After restoration, the carousel operated from 1984 to 1998 in southern California at Long Beach's Shoreline Village, near the Queen Mary. But it returned in 1998 to San Francisco, where it was restored further and installed at its present home.

The carousel is now enclosed in a glass pavilion. (The pavilion is great for photography in that the interior gets so much light -- but it's bad for photography in that the walls are too close to the rim!) Music is supplied by recordings. The carousel actually sits on the roof of an underground part of the Moscone Center -- and this has reportedly been problematic, in that the roof has buckled a bit, causing slight misalignment of the carousel's mechanical parts.