BlockBefore
Photograph of Elitch Gardens Carousel
Photograph by Kristal Kraft, CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Elitch Gardens Carousel

A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

From the record

“Elitch Gardens Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #6 or as the Kit Carson County Carousel, is a 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel located in Burlington, Colorado.”

Wikipedia article Elitch Gardens Carousel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 7 National Register listings published here for Kit Carson County · listed in 1978 · category: Object · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • National Historic Landmark. The highest federal designation, held by about 2,600 places in the country against roughly 100,000 Register listings.
  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building, 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Kit Carson County Fairgrounds, Burlington, 80807
  • When was it listed? December 1978
  • Category. object
  • Census division. Burlington
  • Architect. Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
  • National Register reference number. 78000861 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

29 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Elitch Gardens Carousel between 2011 and 2016, burning about 137 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural2
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
1 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersBURLINGTON
8 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
26 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersBURLINGTON
21 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
19 August 2014Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
6 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
5 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
5 July 2016Naturalunder an acreBurlington Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN

Every fire recorded in Kit Carson County

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Elitch Gardens Carousel: 4 unknowns, 3 producers, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Burlington Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Erker PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Johnson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Martens PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel

Every working recorded in Kit Carson County

Storms near this property

60 of 337 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Burlington, the town this property stands in, in 337 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 184 hail, 124 thunderstorm wind, 13 flash flood, 9 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBurlington$500,000A severe microburst destroyed two airport hangars and damaged several aircraft inside. The only hangars destroyed were those oriented north-south. Another hangar nearby received only minor damage. Peak winds measured were from the west.
June 2008HailBurlington$325,000A report relayed from CoCoRAHS indicated leaves were shredded. Also, cars were dented and roof shingles were damaged.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindBurlington$170,000Intense straight line winds due to the microburst first occurred at 8:12 PM MDT near the Burlington airport. This began an area of intermittent damage consistent with wind speeds in the 100-115 mph range. The most intense winds occurred over an area 4.2 miles long and 600 yards wide, ending near Interstate 70 and the Kit Carson Correctional facility. The most significant damage occurred near the Burlington airport where a large evergreen tree was snapped at the trunk and near the Kit Carson Correctional Facility where four power poles were snapped and a nearby outbuilding was destroyed. Damage due to winds in the 60-80 mph range continued to the north of Interstate 70. Additional storm damage included: uprooted trees; damage to the wind and visibility sensors of the KITR ASOS, a camper trailer, overhead garage doors (blown in/dented), fences, windows, siding and roofs of outbuildings and a mobile home; and the flipping of shipping containers and semi-truck trailers. The city of Burlington also lost power as a result of the storm damage.
July 2009HailBurlington$12,500Multiple vehicles received severe hail damage as wind-driven hail moved across Hwy 385 south of Burlington. One person received minor injuries. Hail was reported to have covered the ground.
August 2008Flash FloodBurlington$10,000The Kit Carson county fairgrounds was completely flooded by overnight heavy rainfall.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindBurlington$9,000Strong outflow winds broke six power poles, tore away the porch supports from a house and removed the soffit. Three quarters of an inch of rain fell in 15 minutes.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBurlington$5,000Numerous tree limbs and privacy fences in town were downed or damaged.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindBurlington$5,000Metal building was knocked over and the contents inside the building were damaged.
May 2021Flash FloodBurlington$3,000A culvert was washed out from the heavy rainfall.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindBurlington$1,000Large live tree blown down as a line of storms moved through Burlington.
July 2021Flash FloodBurlington$1,000Report received of minor street flooding in and around Burlington, CO. Another report of 1.4 inches of storm total rain was received via social media with photo of a rain gauge at one location. This heavy rain produced enough rain for water to reach the running boards on a jeep (estimated 4-6 inches deep).
May 2011Thunderstorm WindBurlington$1,000Sheriff dispatch reported a power pole down in the town of Burlington.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindBurlington$1,000Estimated 60 to 70 mph winds blew out windows.
August 2007HailBurlington$500Cracked windshield of car.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindBurlington$250Three trees were uprooted and one blown approximately 1/8 mile. A small shed was also moved off its base.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Measured at Kit Carson County Airport.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Measured at Kit Carson County Airport.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Burlington ASOS reported winds ranging from 58 to 73 MPH as a line of convective showers moved overhead.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-As convection moved overhead, the Burlington ASOS reported gusts up to 72 MPH.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Blowing dust reducing visibility to less than a half mile was reported with the severe winds.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-A wall of dust came through town, with visibility falling to a half mile in the dust.
May 2025HailBurlington-Numerous reports along with a video of dime to half dollar size hail occurring in the town of Burlington.
May 2025HailBurlington-Nickel sized hail was reported in Burlington.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS station KITR Burlington Co Airport reported the wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS at the Burlington Airport (KITR) measured the 67 mph wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS at Burlington Airport (KITR) reported the wind gust. The wind gust occurred just behind outflow and ahead of any rainfall.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Site KITR reported 63 mph wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS station KITR at the Burlington Colorado Airport reported the wind gust.
September 2025HailBurlington-Estimated quarter to golf ball sized hail that was accumulating. Time estimated based on radar.
September 2025Tornado (EFU)Burlington-Landspout seen slowly moving north to the west of a farmstead at the CR 47 and L intersection. No damage was reported.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS at the Burlington airport reported an average 5 minute gust of 58 MPH with a peak gust of 64 MPH.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Weatherlink station at Andrews Farms.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS at the Burlington airport recorded a 60 MPH gust.
June 2024FloodBurlington-County sheriff Facebook page shows water flowing across Highway 385 south of the airport.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS in Burlington started measuring severe wind gusts at 43 minutes after the hour with a 60 MPH gust. Over the next 5 minutes, the speeds increased to 96 MPH before the ASOS stopped reporting wind speed because the sensor was damaged.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Weatherlink station on road U.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-NWS Storm Survey crew recorded an area of 60-112 mph straight line winds. Peak wind in the area was 112 mph with damage to grain bins south of the Burlington Airport. Strongest measured gust was 97 mph at the Burlington ASOS. Other notable damage includes numerous trees with broken branches or trunks snapped, and an overturned pivot. The surveyed swath is triangular shaped with a 4 mile long north/south damaged area along Highway 385 centered around the Burlington airport. The swath continues 10 miles southeast from the airport, ending about 0.5 mile south of the junction of county roads J and 55.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Irrigation pivot was blown over by estimated 80 mph winds.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Reported via ASOS station KITR at the Burlington Co Airport.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Two inch diameter tree branch fell on a house in Burlington with estimated 70 mph wind gusts.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Two separate wind gusts of 66 mph occurred at the Burlington Airport ASOS with this storms. The first was at 16:45 and the second was at 16:53.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Report of a 1.5 inch diameter locust tree branch down.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS at Burlington's airport recorded gusts over 70 MPH for about 10 minutes with a peak gust of 75 MPH.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBurlington-City of Burlington Facebook page reported an hour after the storm had passed, the entire city of Burlington is without power and that it is a Tri-State issue.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The KITR ASOS reported a 62 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2023HailBurlington-Public report of 0.75 inch hail with visibility reduced to less than 0.25 mile in heavy rain. The storm did not last long.
August 2023HailBurlington-Pea to penny sized hail observed over a duration of 5 minutes.
July 2023HailBurlington-Public report of Nickel sized hail.
July 2023Flash FloodBurlington-Kit Carson county dispatch passed along a report of flooding in the basement of a residential home in Burlington, CO.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Over a span of eight minutes, the Kit Carson Airport ASOS station reported several gusts ranging from 46 mph to 69 mph. The peak gust of 69 mph occurred at 9:12 pm and 9:18 pm MDT.
October 2023Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Reported via ASOS station KITR at the Burlington Airport.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Reported gust from the Burlington, CO Airport station.
June 2022HailBurlington-Multiple reports of quarter to ping pong ball sized hail over a duration of 10 minutes in the city of Burlington.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The ASOS station at the Kit Carson County Airport (KITR) observed sustained winds of 52 to 69 mph with gusts peaking at 85 mph over a period of two minutes before the winds caused an instrument failure.
May 2021HailBurlington-The hail ranged from pea to nickel in size.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBurlington-Report received via social media of wind gusts estimated up to 80 mph. Time is estimated by radar and reporting individual.
June 2021HailBurlington-Report received via social media hail up to quarter size at location. Time is estimated by radar and reporting individual.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindBurlington-The KITR ASOS at the Kit Carson County Airport recorded a 71 mph wind gusts as the storm passed over the site.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindBurlington-ASOS reported a 76 mph thunderstorm wind gust at location.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindBurlington-ASOS reported a 61 mph thunderstorm wind gust at location.

Every storm recorded in Kit Carson County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Winegar Building0.3 miles
Sim Hudson Motor Company0.3 miles2007
Burlington State Armory0.5 miles1984
Burlington Gymnasium0.5 miles2007

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 78000861 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Kit Carson CountyAll 7 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.