Gibsonton, Florida
Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Although they still exist on a smaller scale throughout the country, traveling carnivals featuring giants, conjoined twins, and little people used to be immensely popular in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. And when many of those carnival and sideshow performers weren’t on the road, they made their homes in Gibsonton, Florida.
According to The Guardian, these performers considered Gibsonton a safe haven that afforded them some privacy in their otherwise public and complicated lives. Today, it remains one of the last centers of carnival culture in the nation and tries to keep the old traditions alive while also being a rich font for history about the once-dominant form of American entertainment.