In the early 1900s, when entertainment was scarce, a circus coming to town was often the most exciting thing to happen. Starting as a traveling wagon and riverboat show, The Great Wallace Show quickly became one of the highest class circuses traveling by rail in the early 20th Century, boasting a “Three Colossal Ring Circus” and “The Finest Horses of Any Show on Earth.” When The Great Wallace Show arrived in Durand, what happened, no one anticipated. Durand is a small town with a big history. Situated between Flint and Lansing, Michigan, it was destined to be a rail hub. In its heyday in the early 1900s, rail travel was at its peak. Forty-two passenger trains, twenty-two mail trains, and seventy-eight freight trains passed through Durand daily. The Great Wallace Show’s arrival in Durand would forever leave its mark on the small town, and would change a family’s history for generations to come.