-Abandoned Oklahoma featured on News 9 and The News on 6 in Tulsa.
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Heading down busy Kelly Ave in downtown Edmond, passing an Arby’s and a gas station, you wouldn’t think anything of the obscure dirt road blocked off by a yellow fence.
At first you may just notice a barren field and nothing else, but it doesn’t take long to realize the full history of this strange, abandoned plot. Concrete foundations checker the tan grass while rusty metal poles protrude out of the bushes and trees. There are several houses that have
long since been vacated and later vandalized by passers-by. Further into the acreage, hidden behind some thick brush, you’ll start getting an idea of what this place used to be.
Gandini’s Circus went on for some time between the 1900’s and 1930, touring across various parts of the states. Fragments of the circus still linger around including 4 or 5 trailers where the clowns, acrobats and animals were housed. Even the cages, large and small, are still there– discarded when the circus apparently disbanded. Although many of the trailers are burnt from the inside out by either arson or a terrible accident, you can still find fliers, popcorn bags and soda cups along with assorted pieces of memorabilia throughout the area.
What makes the area so spooky is not the place’s background, but it’s lack of obvious history. I’ve tried to search the Internet for information on the circus but could only find a few pages vaguely relating to what it was. Digging through the ashes in and around the trailers I was able to find a few old fliers in tact that shed some light on the place, but still not enough to make this area any less frightening.
The real scare comes at night, walking through this barren place, maybe tripping over an old cougar cage or deflated clown ball, when the full scope of what ‘haunted’ really boils down to. Afterall, there may be nothing more dreadful than a haunted circus burned to the ground. A place does not necessarily require ghosts to be haunted, but if it’s scary enough, maybe we’re the ones who create them.
-Written by Robert Cole
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Also there are old trailers in the back in the woods, where me and my friends have found circus tickets and old notes and pictures.
I have been to the ‘haunted circus,’ as I was introduced to it by my teenage daughter.
Note: in Edmond there is no Arby’s on Kelly. There is an Arby’s on Santa Fe and one on Broadway. Furthermore, Kelly doesn’t go through downtown Edmond.
i am not gonna lie this place is pretty cool, we visited this circus yesterday but we did not find any fliers or tickets or old pictures and i am extremely interested if seeing these…. where might i find them(in the house, in the blue trailer, in the white truck or where???)
I visited this place today, after my friend told me about it. I went with a few friends and walked around, looking at all of the old abandoned stuff. It was awesome, and I’m definitely going to go back when it isn’t raining to introduce more people to this awesome, hidden place, knowing that they never realized it was there when they passed on the common edmond street.
Also, the picture from the google shot up above shows a big building in the middle, and another smaller building to the north. Neither of those are there now. The house farthest east, and the big building to the west, closest to the 5 trailers, are the only buildings still standing.
As soon as the weeds die out, we hope to go back and get some photos of the flyers and tickets… We were only here for a short time, and didn’t get to explore the whole area. If you have photos you want to share, you can post them in the forum!
The Circus is called Cylde bros shriner circus and the hagen bros were also there!!!! Was running in 1955 to about 70 ish!!! I can tell by the pop top RC can I found there they stopped making them in like 1973.
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oktoday/1950s/1957/oktdv7n7.pdf
Page 8 has an add for the Hagen bros circus!!!
The Clyde Bros. Circus was started in 1943 by Howard W. Suesz. By the early 1950’s the show was playing a number of United States Shrine dates, and by the mid-1950s began playing a number of Canadian Shrine dates. Both indoor and tent dates were played. In 1949 Suesz started a tent show called Hagen Bros. that was operating until 1961. There was no connection to Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. However in 1960 the Clyde Bros. Circus had to change its title to Rex Bros. Circus for it’s Canadian dates due to competition from the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus that also played in Ontario that year. By 1975 the Clyde Bros. Circus had two units, the Red and the Blue and played a number of sponsored dates. In 1976 the Blue unit was the Clyde Bros. Circus and the Carden & Johnson International Circus was referred to as the Red unit. That year the Carden & Johnson International Circus bought the Clyde Bros. Circus and it’s contracted dates. In 1994 the Clyde Bros. & Johnson Circus was managed by Don E. Johnson, and the show was active until 1998, if not later. Ted Bowman Circus Route Collection
Actually, they quit making pop-top cans in the early 80s, not the early 70s.
I have plenty of pictures of this place and am hoping to find out a little more about the history of this place. I will try to submit them to you soon! This is a really interesting place!
wow, the pictures take of the vehicles outside are pretty cool. i’ve passed that area several times and had no idea that was there. you guys rock
So how exactly do you get there?
If you think this place is pretty creepy and cool now, the first time I saw it, I was 15 years old and am now 27. All of the original trapeze was there and all of the buildings were still there. The water and feed troughs were there and alot of the old flyers were left on the ground. All of the cages were there and chains for the animals were all original and left abandoned. The entire place looks so different from what it used to look like. I really regret not taking any photos of the dead circus when part of it was still alive.
I was there this morning and while it was neat and creepy it was not as wonderful as i had hoped. Too many kids have torn the place apart. There was a weird bone in one of the trailers. I was thinking maybe a cow but realized…. there’s no cows out there. :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLJzBU59_bg
That link is a youtube video of a guy that did a short movie at this location. The video is not about the circus but it captures a lot of great scenes of what the circus kind of looks like today!
a group of 4 friends of mine went last nite about midnite. they say ITS NOT EMPTY! they kept hearing metal and rustling far away getting closer. as they slowly made their way out they turned around and saw a big dark figure of a person that started running at them very quickly, and chased them to the gate. the figure never yelled nor had a flashlight like a security gaurd or cop would have done. someone or people live their. if u have been there you will know there isnt anywhere to take residence. we plan on another trip to find out who was there. he came from the row of trailers off in the woods. if anyone can comment on this please do. maybe some 3rd gen sideshow freaks are still there? doubt it but maybe?
i am fixing to make a trip out there i will post when i get back