Good news for carousel lovers: Ocean County and Seaside Heights have reopened the 1910 Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel after a long restoration.

For the past nine years, Seaside Heights has worked with volunteers to restore the Wurlitzer organ, carousel, and carvings, and refurbish the mechanics of the carousel, bringing it back to life for riders of all ages to enjoy.

Also known as the Dentzel/Looff Carousel, it was moved to its current home in 1932 from Burlington Island in Burlington County, according to the New Jersey Historic Trust, which states that most of the carousel animals date to 1910. This places it in the “golden age” of carousels and amusement parks, which ranges from 1875 to 1935. According to the Seaside Heights website, the Dentzel Carousel Company, based in Pennsylvania, produced the first American carousel.

A fire damaged the carousel in 1928, but an area resident, Linus Gilbert, rescued and rebuilt the machine and brought it to Seaside Heights. In the 1980s, the owners considered dismantling the carousel but Floyd Moreland, who was professor of classics and dean at the City University of New York and had ridden the carousel as a child, and later operated it as an employee of the Casino Pier, decided to lead its restoration with help from volunteers and grants.

Moreland was part of the group of government officials and dignitaries at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the reopening of the carousel on June 28, and this summer it spins once again.