Jean LeRoy was a master wood carver in Tucson. He was a former clown for the Cole Brother Circus and Ringling Brother’s Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1978 Jean LeRoy opened a miniature museum in Trail Dust Town. (6541 E. Tanque Verde.) Jean LeRoy died in 1981, after his death some of his carvings went on display at the Hidden Valley Inn Restaurant.
LeRoy’s wood carvings on display at the restaurant consisted of miniatures of the Cole Brothers Circus, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, a ghost town and 25 Indian tribes.
The Hidden Valley Inn Restaurant burned down on August 7, 1995. None of LeRoy’s wood carvings were lost in the fire, because the wood carvings had been returned to the LeRoy family in 1994.
LeRoy’s work is periodically exhibited at the Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, located at 4455 E Camp Lowell Dr.
Sources:
"Hidden Valley carvings spared." Tucson Citizen. August 9, 1995. Page C1.
"No decision on Hidden Valley Inn." Arizona Daily Star. August 9, 1995. Page B1.
"Tucson Time Capsule: Circus in Miniature, circa 1978." Arizona Daily Star. June 2, 2008. Page B5.
Find the information you need by calling the library's Infoline at 520-791-4010 or by sending your question to Ask a Librarian.
