Crescent Park (defunct amusement park)

The only remaining amusement ride is the completely restored 1895-vintage Crescent Park Looff Carousel, designed and built by Charles I.D.

The ride's building was built on columns over the beach next to the 400' pier that was used by steamboats traveling up and down Narragansett Bay and the Providence River.

The ride has 61 hand-carved horses, 1 camel, 4 chariots, and a spectacular German band organ built by A. Ruth & Sohn.

His son Charles Jr. and daughter Helen managed the company's Crescent Park operations after their father left.

Charles Looff Jr. oversaw renovations to the park, including the construction in 1914 of a new shore dinner hall on the banks of the Bay, capable of seating 2000 patrons.

Looff Jr. then opened up the floor plan of the Alhambra Ballroom by installing massive beams in the roof and removing all the interior columns.

In 1916, he built a 150' excursion boat named the Miss Looff after his younger sister who had been killed in a trolley accident in New York.

Following his death three years later, Beacon Manufacturing Company purchased the park after his estate defaulted on mortgage payments.

The park exchanged hands again in 1966, when it was bought by three Providence investors, Melvin Berry, Max Sugarman, and Joe Paolino Sr. Three years after the purchase, on September 2, 1969, the Alhambra Ballroom burned down.

In 1982, the Kelly & Picerne real estate firm purchased the park property from the City of East Providence for $825,000 for residential development.