On Thursday, July 6th, 1944, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus' big top caught fire. It was the worst circus tragedy ever. The fire was fast and furious. It lasted under 10 minutes and left 168 people dead with over 700 injured.
Ringling Brothers waterproofed the big top tent with paraffin wax and gasoline, a much cheaper alternative to a fire retardant formula. A few years later an arsonist, that worked for the circus, confessed to starting the fire. His confession was not believed, even though he was convicted of arson in Ohio, just six years after the fire. To this day no one knows who or how started the fire.
The news of horrific blaze spread across the country. The story of "Little Miss 1565," an unidentified young girl who died in the fire, put a face to the tragedy. She had blonde hair and was well preserved. She may have died from smoke inhalation since the burns on her body were not serious enough to have killed her. She was not identified by any family member and remained unknown until 1992, when her death certificate was changed to Eleanor Emily Cook. Her identity is still under question, since her mother denied, from the time of the fire until her death in 1997, that "Little Miss 1565" was not her daughter. Three still unidentified adults and two children are buried in nearby Northwood Cemetery.
Personal accounts can be found on the web. I found a video of Hartford's own Charles Nelson Reilley (Actor / Comedian from stage, screen and television), in which he dramatizes his afternoon at the circus. (
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Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus accepted all financial responsibility for negligence in the fire. Paying all claims, without objection, totaling over 4 million dollars.
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The latitude and longitude for this waymark will bring you to a plaque. Walk east past the other plaques to the memorial, placed at the location of the center of the tent.
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Wiki page: (
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Link to photos of the fire: (
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