Influential American: P.T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum is best known for his part in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. 

An entreprenuer from the start, Barnum owned a newspaper in his Connecticut hometown before moving to New York where he quickly founded "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater." He purchased a museum which he used as a platform for performances from his variety act and for other human curiosities and oddities. Eventually, his museum housed America's first aquarium. 

       While ever adding to his list of attractions and oddities, Barnum was also a very productive politician, serving two terms in the Connecticut legislature, and eventually becoming mayor of Bridgeport, CT. 

      Barnum did not enter the travelling circus business until he was in his sixties. He started "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome," a traveling circus, menagerie and museum. He later partnered with Bailey, creating Barnum and Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth." 

    At the American Treasure Tour there is a wonderland of circus memorabilia, artifacts from the circus and vintage advertisements from the show's heyday.