The "Nags Head Carousel" was a German-made, double-decker carousel built in 1905 and was located in the front of the park near the Powder Keg Flume exit. The ride opened with the park in 1973 but only lasted for 2 years and was dismantled after the 1974 season. It lay in storage until 1979, when Carowinds decided to donate the carousel back to the town of Dreieich, Germany where it originated. Unfortunately, the classic horses from the ride were given to Carowinds employees who retired. The town had contacted me several times in attempts to locate the horses in order to restore this carousel back to it's original beauty but has had little success in finding them. New horses were eventually carved and the final results of what the carousel looks like today are magnificant.
See this carousel as it appears today back in it's original home of Dreieich, Germany - HERE

Brief history of this carousel.
The name of the first owner was Phillip Schneider who passed it onto his son Heinrich. The initials "H.S" can still be seen on some parts of the carousel. Schneider came from Bischofsheim, a small town near Mainz/Rüsselsheim. He traveled the Mainz area, visiting towns such as Rüsselsheim, Weißenau, Groß-Gerau, Mörfelden, Walldorf and Dreieichenhain.

The ride was sold by its previous owner to another showman in Holland and was then exported to the USA, Carowinds theme park, Charlotte, NC, where it stayed from 1972-79. It was brought back to Germany with the help of the US Airforce, then based around Frankfurt, and re-opened in 1980.

The ride can hold up to 120 people. The upper deck allows access to two spinning tubs (called "coffee mills" in German) and to several painted boats, each of which can be rocked by its occupants. The lower deck has two rows of wooden horses and chariots. The inner row horses were carved by Poeppig of Neustadt-an-der-Oder and the outer row are very rare horses, carved by Lengle of Bruchsal.

A Ruth and Sohne Type 34A organ dating from about 1910 was added to the ride in 2000. This has two music roll mechanisms, which allow one roll to be playing while the other is rewinding.

The entire carousel is supported from a wooden centre pole, which alone weighs 2 tons. The ride is driven from an electric motor in a very unusual manner, using a friction drive to a rail attached to the inside edge of the lower platform.
NOTE: In 1973, Taft Broadcasting Company, owner of Carowinds at that time, acquired a classic 1923 Philadelphia Toboggan Company #67 Carousel which had operated at 2 different amusement parks in Indiana between 1923 & 1973. It was totally restored and moved to Carowinds in 1979 where it resides to this day.
Read the little known, "behind-the-scenes-drama" of how Carowinds obtained it's current carousel: HERE