[1] By 1929, the "Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Show" had grown to five rings and it was purchased by the American Circus Corporation.

[2][3] The five circuses that were part of that acquisition continued to tour under their own names, but were closed one-by-one during the Great Depression.

[4] In 1938, the co-owned Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows was experiencing labor problems which ultimately led to the circus being closed after performances in Scranton, Pennsylvania on June 22.

[6] Among the attractions that were featured were big game hunter "Bring 'em Back Alive Frank Buck" and the gorilla Gargantua.

[17] In the circus's 1926 route book, the cast listing for "big show performers" has three categories: ladies, gentlemen, and Indian tribes.

[19][20] George and Willie Muse were two albino African-Americans who were exhibited as the "sheep-headed boys" and called Eko and Iko.

At that time, the zoo had a lion, a leopard, jaguars, pumas, wolves, coyotes, 20 Bengal tigers (including eight “new” ones said to be “cubs” unused to human interaction—their trainer described them as “cute little rascals”), a hippopotamus, Tusko the elephant who and was claimed to be “ten tons” or 20,000 lb (9,100 kg), another elephant named Ruth,[26] a herd of Bactrian camels, a herd of at least eight zebras,[27] llamas, alpacas, peccaries, elks, polar bears, seals, a boxing kangaroo named Fitz,[27] a chimpanzee named Joe Martin, actuallyJoe Martin (orangutan), a “monkey” named Jiggs who appears in an accompanying photo to be a juvenile orangutan and is elsewhere called a “jungle man”,[27] and “horses of every breed” including 12 Arabians and one called Billy.

[27][28] The live bird collection included American eagles, “black swans from Africa,” ostriches, storks, white peacocks, sauris cranes, pheasants, guinea hens, cockatoos and pigeons.

"[16] The circus was able to earn additional revenue and keep the animals in practice with weekend and holiday shows for tourists visiting the amusements.

[28] The effort to incorporate Barnes City as an independent municipality within Los Angeles County, California has been described as "extremely confusing.

It is said that Al Barnes changed his entire circus schedule on election day so that the monkeys could vote without leaving their cages.

Dissatisfied homeowners demanded a new election, but the Board of Directors, hand picked by Al Barnes, refused.

[41] At the time of the Los Angeles annexation vote in September 1926, the "circus city" was said to be 4.5 sq mi (12 km2) in area and have a population of approximately 2500 people,[41] although that may have been a bold overestimate.

Per a neighborhood historian, "Unlike Mar Vista and Venice, which joined Los Angeles for water and other services, the homeowners of Barnes City sought freedom from living in a city built around a circus, run by the circus owner, whose brother was the mayor.

[44] In February 1927, Barnes announced plans to move the circus' winter quarters to Baldwin Park, saying he wanted to sell and subdivide the land along Washington Blvd.

The elephant demolished fences, knocked over laundry lines and trees, telephone poles, and overturned a Model T.[50] On July 20, 1930, the circus suffered a train wreck in the small community of Canaan Station, New Brunswick, Canada.

[54] Several Barnes performers appeared as café entertainers in Their Purple Moment, a 1927 silent comedy starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

King of the Jungle is a 1933 Paramount Pictures film that includes animals, performers and scenes from the Al G. Barnes Circus and winter quarters in 1932.

Although the movie is set on the lot of "Corey's Circus," it was actually filmed on location at the first Baldwin Park winter quarters.