Old Orchard Beach’s Palace Playland Goes Nostalgic for National Merry-Go-Round Day

National Merry-Go-Round Day

In this year of 2022, it seems like there's a national day for everything. National Siblings Day (ironically with separate National Brothers Day and National Sisters Day), National Bacon Day, National Ice Cream Day, National Pets Day -- at this rate, there's probably even a National Don't Accidentally Tie Your Shoes Together Day.

According to the National Calendar Day website, yesterday, July 25, was National Merry-Go-Round Day. And in the spirit of celebration, one of (if not THE) most iconic Merry-Go-Rounds in Maine, the one at Palace Playland at the Old Orchard Beach Pier, celebrated with a trip down memory lane.

Using a picture from CarouselCorner.net that features how the Carousel at Palace Playland at the OOB Pier looked back in the day, the Palace Playland Facebook page credited Robert A. Domingue for a collage of "then and now" photos of our famous Carousel positioned for direct comparison to how the iconic structure looks now, even going as far as morphing the two photos together.

The Pier has been rebuilt multiple times

The elements have not been kind to the Old Orchard Beach Pier over the years. According to Go Travel MAINE, the Pier first opened back on July 2, 1898 and consisted of three pavilions and a casino. Just a few months later in November 1898, a massive storm damaged the pier and casino. While the Casino had repairs in the following years, the pier was once again rebuilt in 1908, only to have another storm damage the pier and casino in 1909.

Over the years, storms continued to damage the pier and casino little by little until the casino was torn down in 1970 and the Blizzard of '78 destroyed what was left of the Pier, causing the version that we know and love today to be rebuilt in 1980.

What are your favorite Pier memories over the decades?