The man who sold The Brooklyn Bridge

George C. Parker (1870-1936) was the greatest con man in American history managing to sell landmark items like Madison Square Gardens, the Statue of Liberty and,  the Brooklyn Bridge. 

He sold the Brooklyn Bridge on an average of twice a week for years, one time for as much as $50,000. Sometimes the police would have to stop the “new owners” from setting up toll booths in the middle of the bridge.

Parker also made a fortune from naives by selling the old Madison Square Garden over and over again. He prepared like hell for these sales, going so far as to set up phony offices and fake documents to prove his ‘legal ownership.

Continuing his successful scamming, Parker then “sold” both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Statue of Liberty. But perhaps his most outlandish transaction involved Grant’s Tomb, for which he posed as the legendary general and president’s grandson to seal the deal.

However, Parker was caught up sometimes and he was convicted of fraud three times, the third of which landed him an eight-year sentence at Sing Sing Correctional Facility ( Ossining, New York.)

He died behind bars in 1936. But his legacy lives on in the famous American slogan, “If you believe that, then I have a bridge to sell you,”