Barnum's Museum Fire, 1865
Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street in New York City from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P.T. Barnum and his partner and original owner, John Scudder. Its attractions made it a combination zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum, theater and freak show, that was, at the same time, a central site in the development of American popular culture. At its peak, the museum was open fifteen hours a day and had as many as 15, 000 visitors a day. Some 38 million customers paid the 25 cents admission to attend the museum between 1841 and 1865. On July 13, 1865, the American Museum burned to the ground in one of the most spectacular fires New York has ever seen. Animals at the museum were seen jumping from the burning building, only to be shot by police officers
