10. John Ringling became one of the richest men in America
The circus was lucrative for all of the Ringling Brothers, and especially so for Charles and John, who became leading figures in the development of Sarasota, Florida. John’s investments in real estate, oil, railroads, and fine art, as well as cattle ranches, made him exceedingly wealthy. In 1910 a railroad named the White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railroad was built connecting Leader, Montana (renamed Ringling) and White Sulphur Springs, where John built a summer house. A belief that White Sulphur Springs would become a popular resort was his motivation for investing in the railroad. John invested in other railroads and served as a company officer in several.
The investments in railroads and other industries, particularly the booming oil industry, understandably took time away from the day-to-day operation of the circus, which continued to operate throughout the 1920s and 1930s as before, a traveling show which journeyed between its destinations by rail. In smaller and rural areas, the circus continued to create its own grounds near railheads, erecting its tents and other amusements. In urban areas the show began to rely on more permanent structures, such as New York’s Madison Square Gardens, or in fairgrounds. By 1929, just before the onset of the Great Depression, John Ringling, the last of the five brothers who founded their circus empire, owned or controlled all of the traveling circuses in the United States.