# P.T. Barnum's Starter House: Iranistan



## Skydog (Oct 3, 2020)

*Iranistan - Bridgeport CT (1848 - 1857)*

In 1846, P. T. Barnum decided to build a new house for his family and purchased 17 acres of land beside Long Island Sound in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Claiming in his autobiography that he "cared little for style," Barnum also acknowledged that a "unique" house could "serve as an advertisement of my varied enterprises." While touring England with Tom Thumb, Barnum saw the Chinese- and Turkish-style Royal Pavillion of King George IV of Wales, and promptly ordered an architect to draw up plans for his own version. Sparing no expense in erecting his "comfortable, convenient, and tasteful residence," Barnum employed an architect, a builder, and 500 local carpenters and laborers, who spent two years (count em!) building the house he named Iranistan. Befitting the house's size and opulence, over 1000 guests attended Iranistan's November, 1848, housewarming. Iranistan burned to the ground (naturally) on December 17, 1857, when a workman doing renovations left a lighted pipe inside its central dome (if those onion domes don't scream fire hazard then I don't know what does circa eighteen hundred and make believe).












"Barnum's most unique mansion"was designed by the New York architect Leopold Eidlitz, later a founder of the American Institute of Architects. It was a mix of Byzantine, Moorish and Turkish decorative elements, inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England, which Barnum visited shortly after its construction and admired. The word Iranistan is composed of Iran and -stan. The suffix -stan is Persian for "place of" or "country" and Iranistan means descended from Iran and Persian culture.

*As such an architectural style had not yet become established in the United States*, Barnum describes his efforts to have it built:

"*I concluded to adopt it*, and engaged a London architect to furnish me a set of drawings after the general plan of the pavilion, differing sufficiently to be adapted to the spot of ground selected for my homestead. On my second return visit to the United States, I brought these drawings with me and engaged a competent architect and builder, giving him instructions to proceed with the work, not 'by the job' but 'by the day,' and to spare neither time nor expense in erecting a comfortable, convenient, and tasteful residence. The work was thus begun and continued while I was still abroad, and during the time when I was making my tour with General Tom Thumb. through the United States and Cuba. Elegant and appropriate furniture was made expressly for every room in the house. I erected expensive water-works to supply the premises. The stables, conservatories and out-buildings were perfect in their kind. There was a profusion of trees set out on the grounds. The whole was built and established literally 'regardless of expense,' for I had no desire even to ascertain the entire cost."

*Fire!*

When Barnum experienced financial difficulties, he had Iranistan closed and it was unoccupied for more than two years (that's right, after building the most extravagant mansion this side of the Mississippi - he up and left that piece a few short years after the proverbial cornerstone was laid...). Carpenters and painters entered to do some work and had been ordered not to smoke in the building. They smoked after-dinner pipes there in the evening (those naughty boys). A pipe left to smolder may have ignited a blaze after the workmen were gone (all it takes is one well placed pipe - or cow - or candle).

The fire alarm was sounded at 11 PM (pull the tape!) on December 17, 1857 and the house burned until 1 AM (sun dial). P.T. Barnum was staying at the Astor House in NYC (of course he was). In the morning of December 18, he received a telegram from his brother, Philo F. Barnum (or P. F. Doggy Dogg to his friends), informing him that Iranistan had burned to the ground. Barnum had retained some insurance (Progressive - not Geico - but still suspect either way) on the unoccupied mansion (its destiny), but he only collected $28,000 (amateur hour at the Apollo theatre!). Many pictures and pieces of furniture were saved from the fire, although many of the salvaged pieces were damaged (BS). After the fire, bank assignees sold the property, including the surviving outbuildings, to Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine (of course!).

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Well - I inserted a few snarky comments in parentheses above as you can see - but a tale of this altitude really needs none of that extra hee-haw at all. It stands alone.

The best part is that there is an even more ridiculous tale related to the real estate of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that makes Iranistan look like Hulk Hogan next to Andre the Giant circa 1985.  Stay tuned...


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## EUAFU (Oct 3, 2020)

It seems that Mr PT Barnum had a very close relationship with fire.

"Today, visitors to Lower Manhattan can shop at a Zara clothing store that inconspicuously occupies a corner near City Hall Park. But in the mid-19th century, this was the site of PT Barnum's American Museum, the global epicenter of humbug. On July 13, 1865, a fire destroyed the museum, which helped push Barnum toward his circus work. Yet despite the continuing fame of his endeavors — some recently depicted in Twentieth Century Fox's film The Greatest Showman — most people don't know that Barnum kept live whales there on the southeast corner of Broadway and Ann Street. The museum's two belugas died in the blaze. "

The rest can be read here

https://www.historians.org/publicat...an-and-the-forging-of-modern-animal-captivity

is here


https://www.nytimes.com/1865/07/14/...truction-of-barnums-american-museum-nine.html


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## davtash (Oct 3, 2020)

Am I naive or were all these buildings already here when they were 'built'?


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## Skydog (Oct 3, 2020)

davtash said:


> Am I naive or were all these buildings already here when they were 'built'?


That’s one of the general themes of stolen history / mud flood in a nutshell. I highlighted (or rather - changed the font to red - a controversial tactic in these parts - so I only did it sparingly) the part about old PT saying he “adopted” it - supposedly referring to the architectural style - but perhaps really referring to the house itself.

I also just looked at what stands in its place today - Klein Memorial Auditorium located at 910 Fairfield Ave. (supposedly built in 1940) - which seems to have the classic architecture we can no longer seem to replicate today. Perhaps an Iranistan remnant. There is also a street named Iranistan nearby.


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## cmgtech2525 (Feb 19, 2022)

I grew up in the area.  I see so many mudflood building.  Also all those homes in the area are now half way homes.    It’s a shame.   I lived near mountain grove cemetery.   Should have a thread on its own.


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## dreamtime (Feb 19, 2022)

EUAFU said:


> "Today, visitors to Lower Manhattan can shop at a Zara clothing store that inconspicuously occupies a corner near City Hall Park. But in the mid-19th century, this was the site of PT Barnum's American Museum, the global epicenter of humbug. On July 13, 1865, a fire destroyed the museum, which helped push Barnum toward his circus work. Yet despite the continuing fame of his endeavors — some recently depicted in Twentieth Century Fox's film The Greatest Showman — most people don't know that Barnum kept live whales there on the southeast corner of Broadway and Ann Street. The museum's two belugas died in the blaze. "



Damn, that guy had more visitors than the entire population of America back then:

_"At its peak, the museum was open fifteen hours a day and had as many as 15,000 visitors a day.[1] Some 38 million customers paid the 25 cents admission to visit the museum between 1841 and 1865. The total population of the United States in 1860 was under 32 million."_​
Barnum's American Museum - Wikipedia


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