It was way back in 1917 when the Carousel, now at the Children's Museum, 30th and Meridian Street, was installed at the White City Amusement Park (named after the gleaming white buildings in an area of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Columbian Exhibition called The White City). The amusement park was built on the present-day site of Broad Ripple Park on the bend of the White River to give Indianapolis residents a reason to ride the street car all the way north to the Town of Broad Ripple.

The carousel was built by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of 42 carved animals (17 Jumpers, 14 Standing, 11 Menagerie, 2 Chariots). The ride remained in the park through the early 1950's, but fell into disrepair, destroying the rotating mechanism and musical organ. Around 1956 the Indianapolis Parks Department moved the pieces to storage. Over the next years horses sometimes appeared at special events, such as on the Circle. The Children's Museum acquired the animals in 1965 from the parks department. The museum director at the time was Mildred Compton, who had recently attended a carousel convention and decided to restore the Broad Ripple carousel for the museum. All but one of the original animals were recovered. Over the next 10 years a period rotating mechanism and organ were located and all of the animals were restored. The ride was installed in the soon to open 30th and Meridian museum building in 1975 (previously the museum was in the Parry Mansion at 3010 N. Meridian Street). In 1987 the carousel was declared a National Historic Landmark.

The old carousel has been offering rides to young and old at the museum since 1976-currently 430,000 per year!