Ohio's New Children's Carousel Echoes Mansfield's Own Carousel Legacy

On National Carousel Day, July 25, Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine are set to unveil the Ohio Children's Carousel at the 2026 Ohio State Fair — a new statewide attraction built around an idea Mansfield has made part of its downtown identity for 35 years. Public rides are scheduled to begin when the fair opens Wednesday, July 29.

For Mansfield, the new carousel is less a novelty than a statewide echo. Long before Ohio made a hand-carved children's ride a permanent fairgrounds feature, Richland Carrousel Park showed how a carousel could bring families downtown, draw visitors from beyond the county line and give a hard-hit city something tangible to rally around.

The Ohio Children's Carousel was created by Carousels and Carvings, a company based in Marion, Ohio. It features 32 hand-carved animals and chariots designed to celebrate Ohio's native wildlife, history and cultural legacy, including the Ohio bobcat, river otter, trumpeter swan and the prehistoric fossil fish Dunkleosteus terrelli. Design elements honor Ohio's history, including Smoky Dog, a World War II war dog adopted in Cleveland. The carousel includes an accessible chariot and a toddler seat for inclusive riding, with each ride costing $3.

The state is betting that a handcrafted carousel can pull in children, bring their parents along and give visitors a reason to return. Mansfield made the same bet decades ago — and built a downtown institution around it.

The difference is that Mansfield's carousel was not born from a branding plan. It was part of an effort to keep a battered downtown alive.

Richland Carrousel Park opened just one year after major local employers Westinghouse and Ohio Brass closed their Mansfield operations in 1990, dealing a severe blow to the local economy. John Fernyak, Richland Carrousel Park founder and developer, and his wife Mimi witnessed a similar carousel in California and became convinced that attracting young children to downtown Mansfield would draw their families, reversing the area's severe deterioration.

Construction began in the fall of 1990 after more than $1.25 million was privately raised by the community. The Richland Carrousel was built by Carousel Works Inc., a Mansfield-based manufacturer, and features 52 hand-carved figures including 30 horses and 22 menagerie figures carved in the style of G.A. Dentzel, a renowned early 20th-century carver.

When Richland Carrousel Park opened for business on Aug. 30, 1991, it marked the debut of the first new, hand-carved carousel built and operated in the United States since the 1930s — more than three decades before the state's investment.

It remains to be seen whether DeWine or State Fair officials will publicly credit Mansfield's role in pioneering carousel-based economic development.

There is, at least, a direct professional thread connecting the two projects.

Todd Goings, founder of Carousels and Carvings, read about Carousel Works building the Richland Carousel in 1989, reached out, was hired, and worked on the project before leaving in 1993. In 2016, Goings personally carved the Richland Carousel's 25th-anniversary figure, a horse, bringing his career full circle back to Mansfield. In 2024, Goings was named an NEA National Heritage Fellow for his 35-plus years of work reviving the art of carved wooden carousels.

Carousels and Carvings is one of only two specialized firms in the United States building full-service hand-carved wooden carousels. Carousel Works, the Mansfield-based company that built Richland Carrousel Park and was formerly the world's largest manufacturer of wooden carousels, filed for bankruptcy in 2021 and disbanded.

That contrast should not be lost on Mansfield. The craft survived. So did the idea. But the company that helped put Mansfield at the center of the modern carousel revival did not. The city still has the carousel, the visitors and the legacy. It no longer has the manufacturer that made much of that legacy possible.

Since opening in 1991, Richland Carrousel Park has attracted over three million visitors and served as the cornerstone for Mansfield's downtown renaissance, leading to the creation of the Historic Carrousel District. Between August 1991 and November 1996 alone, 698 motor coaches visited, bringing travelers from Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and other states. The park attracts visitors of all ages from around the world.

Richland Carrousel Park has no general admission fee, with carousel rides currently priced at $2 per single ride and multi-ride discounts available, including 3 rides for $5, 6 rides for $10, and 20 rides for $35.

The carousel's survival has depended on the community that considers it its own. After water damage in December 2022, businesses and individuals — including children donating ticket money — contributed over $10,000 to help pay repair crews while insurance claims were processed.

In 2026, at age 92, Fernyak and his wife donated their downtown properties, including 14 buildings around the Brickyard, to the Richland County Foundation to ensure the downtown remains secure for future generations.

DeWine is serving his final year as governor in 2026, with his current term ending on January 11, 2027, and is ineligible to seek a third consecutive term under Ohio's term limits.

The State Fair's carousel may become a new Ohio attraction, but Mansfield's remains the older lesson: a hand-carved ride can draw millions of visitors and help a struggling downtown find a reason to believe in itself again.