Wallace Circus Winter Headquarters | |
Buildings and a circus wagon at the Hall of Fame
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| Nearest city | Peru, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 40°45′16″N 86°1′11″W / 40.75444°N 86.01972°W / 40.75444; -86.01972 |
| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha) |
| Built | 1892 (1892) |
| NRHP reference No. | 87000837[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 27, 1987 |
| Designated NHL | February 27, 1987[2] |
The International Circus Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame which honors important figures in circus history. It is located in Peru, Indiana, on the former grounds of the Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, also known as the Peru Circus Farm and Valley Farms. The property includes rare surviving circus buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its historical importance.[3][4]
The Peru property was a prosperous farm when it was purchased in 1891 by Benjamin Wallace, owner of the Wallace Circus. From then until 1944 the property served as the winter quarters for a succession of circus companies, most created by succession or merger with Wallace's operation. In 1921, the American Circus Corporation acquired the property and Wallace's circus operation, and expanded the facilities. American Circus was sold to John Ringling in 1929, and it housed Ringling Brothers operations until declines in the circus business prompted its closure in 1944. The property was then returned to agricultural use, and a number of the surviving circus-related buildings were significantly altered or demolished.[3]
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The Ringling Brothers Circus had established their winter quarters in Sarasota, Florida in 1927, with a large amount of help by Victor Sabattini (1916–2010), an insurance executive, who later became the president and chairman of the board. In the mid-1950s the idea to create a hall of fame to honor outstanding circus artists was conceived of by circus fans in the Sarasota community and in 1956 the Circus Hall of Fame opened. Located near the Sarasota airport, the Hall of Fame included exhibition space in several buildings filled with circus memorabilia, including personal effects from famous circus artists and impresarios – costumes, props, posters and circus wagons. In addition to the exhibits, the Circus Hall of Fame presented circus acts several times a day, during several months each year.
In addition to visits by Florida tourists, the Circus Hall of Fame received national exposure. NBC-TV broadcast "The Circus Hall of Fame All Star Circus" on Sept. 12, 1970. The host, Ed McMahon, conveyed congratulations to the four newly named inductees to the Circus Hall of Fame for 1970 including famous circus performers, The Rieffenach Sisters (bareback riders), aerialists Mayme Ward and Ira Millette, and circus impresario Billy Smart Sr.
Although up to 80,000 tourists visited the Circus Hall of Fame each year, by the late 1970s it was unprofitable and the owners prepared to close the museum. In 1980 the lease on the property expired and on May 27, 1980, the Sarasota Circus Hall of Fame had its last performance.
In 1981 a group of citizens from Peru, Indiana, learned that the effects of the Circus Hall of Fame were for sale. Interested in preserving the circus artifacts and concerned that they might be auctioned off separately, Indiana residents, businesses and the state government contributed to the purchase of the entire collection to bring it to the former Wallace property in Peru. Many other items have since been added to the original Sarasota collection, including 16 historical wagons reconstructed in the Hall of Fame wagon shop and the Peru Wagon Works Shop.
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