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- Burr Robbins Circus
- This site served as the Spring Brook
Farm winter quarters for the Burr
- Robbins Circus from 1874-1888. This
show was once reported as the third largest circus in America.
In 1874, Burr Robbins bought E. P. Doty's 100-acre farm and converted
it into a village of sorts, complete with homestead, animal house,
horse barn, riding hall, root house, and paint, blacksmith and
harness shops. The farm, named for the brook that flowed through
it, also had a deer park surrounded by a tall picket fence. Burr
Robbins, a respected Janesville citizen, poured thousands of
dollars into the local economy every year. The circus was considered
as valuable to the city as any manufacturing establishment. Showing
his fondness for the community, Burr Robbins once said, "when
my wanderings are over, I shall ever turn my face toward Janesville
with joy."
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- Erected in 2000
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