Lucy the Elephant is a historical landmark and tourist attraction located in Margate City, New Jersey. She is a six-story, 65-foot tall elephant-shaped building made of wood and tin sheeting, and is considered one of the oldest surviving roadside attractions in the United States.
The story of Lucy the Elephant begins in 1881, when a real estate developer named James Lafferty built her as a publicity stunt to promote his seaside resort in Margate City. Lafferty had previously built a smaller elephant-shaped building called "Elephant Bazaar," which was successful in attracting visitors to his resort. However, he wanted to create something even more spectacular, and so he commissioned the construction of Lucy the Elephant, who was designed by Philadelphia architect William Free and built by the Philadelphia Bridge Company.
Over the years, Lucy the Elephant has undergone several renovations and changes in ownership. In the early 20th century, she was used as a restaurant and hotel, and later as a summer home for families. In 1969, the Margate City Historical Society purchased Lucy and began restoring her to her original condition. Today, Lucy the Elephant is open to the public as a museum, and visitors can take guided tours through her interior, which includes exhibits on her history and the history of Margate City.
Despite being over 140 years old, Lucy the Elephant remains a popular attraction in New Jersey and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She has been featured in numerous movies, television shows, and advertisements, and has become a beloved symbol of the Jersey Shore.
In conclusion, Lucy the Elephant is a unique and historic landmark that has stood the test of time. Built in 1881 as a publicity stunt, she has evolved into a beloved tourist attraction and cultural icon that continues to captivate visitors from around the world.
I Love Lucy the Elephant: America’s oldest surviving roadside attraction has welcomed visitors to the Jersey Shore since 1881
It was restored and reconstructed behind Lucy, where it operated as a hotel, rooming house, and beer garden. More than 100,000 visitors climb the narrow spiral staircase into the elephant every year, and a few lucky guests are able to aoc-full-screen aoc-heart-solid aoc-compass aoc-flipboard aoc-globe aoc-pocket aoc-share aoc-cancel aoc-video aoc-building aoc-clock aoc-clipboard aoc-help aoc-arrow-right aoc-arrow-left aoc-ticket aoc-place-entry aoc-facebook aoc-instagram aoc-reddit aoc-rss aoc-twitter aoc-accommodation aoc-activity-level aoc-add-a-photo aoc-add-box aoc-add-shape aoc-arrow-forward aoc-been-here aoc-chat-bubbles aoc-close aoc-expand-more aoc-expand-less aoc-forum-flag aoc-group-size aoc-heart-outline aoc-heart-solid aoc-home aoc-important aoc-knife-fork aoc-library-books aoc-link aoc-list-circle-bullets aoc-list aoc-location-add aoc-location aoc-mail aoc-map aoc-menu aoc-more-horizontal aoc-my-location aoc-near-me aoc-notifications-alert aoc-notifications-mentions aoc-notifications-muted aoc-notifications-tracking aoc-open-in-new aoc-pencil aoc-person aoc-pinned aoc-plane-takeoff aoc-plane passport-plane aoc-print aoc-reply aoc-search aoc-shuffle aoc-star aoc-subject aoc-trip-style aoc-unpinned aoc-send aoc-phone aoc-apps aoc-lock aoc-verified. While there are A Brief History Of Lucy The Elephant Lafferty would take real estate buyers to Lucy's howdah the seat on her back to show them available land for sale in Margate. The publicity of moving the giant Lucy went over the national and international wire services, creating a flow of donations to the Save Lucy Committee from worldwide good wishers. In a volunteer effort of heroic proportions, The Save Lucy Committee raised the funds to move the elephant to a City owned property a few blocks away and to restore it. Lafferty, who began building the pachyderm in 1881 in an effort to attract tourists and potential property buyers.
History Archives
Then came a jolt that was not anticipated. Lucy is available to rent for weddings, bar mitzvahs, corporate events, class reunions, or birthday parties. The color selection is crowd-sourced via Facebook. In 1976, Lucy was designated a National Historic Landmark and today she is once again a major tourist attraction in the area. No history such as this could have been completed without the help of many people and organizations, library reference departments, family scrapbooks and public documents. He has been published on Reuters, Spore Magazine, and How We Made it In Africa. Carpenter and a group of Margate citizens formed the Margate Civic Association.
Lucy the Elephant
On July 20, 1970, it was moved 100 yards to its present city lot location where it was restored. It looked like all obstacles had been removed and that the giant undertaking would proceed according to schedule. Lafferty built two more elephant-shaped buildings, though neither of the others survives. The Elephantine Colossus, built in Coney Island in 1885, was twice the size of Lucy and contained seven floors of hotel rooms; it burned down in 1896. One purpose of the Association was to find a way to save the decaying old Elephant landmark from demolition, as a developer was negotiating the purchase of the land upon which Lucy stood. The bills must be paid! After that, she mostly just stood there overlooking the ocean while slowly deteriorating. Lucy continued in use as a spectacle and tourist attraction well into the twentieth century, but the harsh marine environment and deferred maintenance eventually took a toll.
Lucy The Elephant Might Be New Jersey's Quirkiest Attraction
Anton Gertzen, the patriarch of the family, was born in 1823 in the German State of Prussia, which is now part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Photo: Alexandra Charitan I visit Lucy for a second time on a hot and sunny day in July—missing her 138th birthday celebration, held this year on July 20, by a few days. It took about seven hours to move Lucy to her new location but she remained closed to visitors until 1974 when structural repairs and upgrades were complete. Today, she stands as the most popular non-gaming attraction in the greater Atlantic City region. To the rescue came the Save Lucy Committee. Lucy has the capacity of hosting 48 guests.
Asbury Park Press
In 1962, the structure was condemned and threatened with demolition to make way for a new condo building. The building is made of nearly 1 million pieces of wood, has 22 windows, including two round eyes, and its construction required 200 kegs of nails, four tons of bolts and iron bars, and 12,000 square feet of tin to cover the outside. It was built as a spectacle to attract potential real estate buyers to Margate then called South Atlantic City. Photo: Alexandra Charitan Although the patent gave him the exclusive right to make, use, or sell zoomorphic buildings for seventeen years, Lafferty only built two other elephant structures. Lafferty enlisted Philadelphia architect William Free to help design and construct Lucy. Guided tours take visitors into the building through the spiral staircase in the left rear leg up into the interior, and then up again into the howdah to see views of shoreline, ocean and Atlantic City. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held with the Mayor and Commissioners attending and press stories went out on the wire services.
