Where The Ringlings First Pitched a Tent
Turning to the left on Second Avenue one block, then to the right one block, brings the visitor to the county jail, the site where Ringling Brothers first pitched their "big top," May 19, 1884. The old jail stood farther back on the lot and the circus was given near the avenue, the gate of the fence enclosing the grounds standing open all day.
Although they had given hall shows before the first circus performance beneath a tent, that afternoon in May was the beginning of a road which ended in the making of several millionaires.
Across the street and a little to the west, 210 Second Avenue, is where August Ringling (originally spelled Rungeling), the father of the showmen, died in 1898. The family previously lived at number 227, almost at the end of the block on the opposite side of the thoroughfare.