When P T Barnum Took Manhattan

When Barnum Took ManhattanBarnum MuseumSleighing in front of P. T. Barnum’s American Museum at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. * Sign In to E-Mail or Save This * Print * Single Page * Reprints * Share o Del.icio.us o Digg o Facebook o Newsvine o PermalinkArticle Tools Sponsored ByBy JOHN STRAUSBAUGHPublished: November 9, 2007SINCE 1766 St. Paul’s Chapel at Broadway and Vesey Street has been one of the best-known and most revered landmarks in Lower Manhattan, associated with events from George Washington’s inauguration in 1789 to the destruction of the World Trade Center just behind it in 2001.Skip to next paragraphRelatedRelated Venues and Events (November 9, 2007)Audio Walking TourNarrated by John StrausbaughThe tour is available in audio format, as a set or as separate mp3 files. * Download Audio Walking TourBarnum MuseumHe may not have uttered that "sucker" line, but he said, "The people like to be humbugged."VideoMore Video »For almost a quarter of a century in the 1800s it shared the intersection with another extremely popular, and not altogether welcome, landmark. Opposite the church, in more ways than one, was P. T. Barnum’s American Museum.Today New Yorkers may think of Phineas Taylor Barnum only when the circus comes to town. But for almost 60 years he was one of the most celebrated figures in the city. He entertained and amused tens of millions here. When he died in 1891, The Washington Post called him “the most widely known American that ever lived.”There’s no statue in any of the city’s parks, no Barnum Square, almost no visible sign of his once ubiquitous presence in Manhattan. But in a city where marketing and advertising are major industries, a city that has revitalized itself as a center of amusements and entertainments in recent years, who can deny that P. T. Barnum’s spirit of humbug lives on?

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