Lucy the Elephant

This article is about Lucy, a six-story architectural creation. For Lucy, the Asian elephant, see Lucy (elephant).

Significant dates

Lucy, the Margate Elephant
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Lucy the Elephant, National Historic Landmark, November 20, 2011
Show map of Atlantic County, New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Show map of the US Location within Atlantic County. Inset: Location of Atlantic County within New Jersey.
Location	Margate City, New Jersey
Coordinates	39°19′14.33″N 74°30′42.85″W / 39.3206472°N 74.5119028°W / 39.3206472; -74.5119028Coordinates: 39°19′14.33″N 74°30′42.85″W / 39.3206472°N 74.5119028°W / 39.3206472; -74.5119028
Built	1881
Architect	James V. Lafferty
NRHP Reference #	71000493
NJRHP #	383^[1]
Added to NRHP	August 12, 1971^[2]
Designated NHL	May 11, 1976^[3]
Designated NJRHP	April 7, 1971

Elephant hotel redirects here. For the National Historic Landmark located in Somers, New York, see Elephant Hotel.

Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped example of novelty architecture, constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1881 by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, two miles (3.2 km) south of Atlantic City, in an effort to sell real estate and attract tourists.

Today, Lucy is the oldest surviving roadside tourist attraction in America.^[4] Visitors may take guided tours through the building, starting at the spiral staircase in the left rear leg, into the interior, then up to the howdah by the side stairs. It offers unique views of Margate, the Atlantic City skyline, the beach, and the Atlantic Ocean.

History

1800s

In 1881, the U.S. Patent Office granted James V. Lafferty a patent giving him the exclusive right to make, use or sell animal-shaped buildings for a duration of seventeen years. Lafferty funded the design and construction of his first elephant-shaped building at South Atlantic City, now called Margate. He employed Philadelphia architect William Free for the design, and it was constructed at a cost of $25,000 - $38,000.^[5]

U.S. Patent 268,503

Originally named "Elephant Bazaar", the building is 65 feet (19.7 m) high, 60 feet (18.3 m) long, and 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. It weighs about 90 tons, and is made of nearly one million pieces of wood. There are 22 windows and it required 200 kegs of nails, 4 tons of bolts and iron bars, and 12,000 square feet of tin to cover the outside.^[5] It is topped by a howdah carriage, also known as a hathi howdah.

Lafferty would bring real estate customers to the howdah, where he could point out real estate parcels available for sale.^[6] Lucy's head shape identifies the building as an Asian Elephant, and its tusks as a male. In its first few years, the elephant was referred to as a male, but today it is now generally considered to be female.

The structure was sold to Anton Gertzen of Philadelphia in 1887 and remained in the Gertzen family until 1970. Sophia Gertzen, Anton's daughter-in-law, reportedly dubbed the structure "Lucy the Elephant" in 1902.^[5]

Lafferty built at least two more elephant-shaped buildings, though neither survives. The Elephantine Colossus or Elephant Hotel, at Coney Island amusement park in Brooklyn, New York, stood 122 feet (37.2 m) tall, with seven floors of rooms, and legs 60 feet in circumference. It held a cigar store in one leg and a dioramic display in another, hotel rooms within the elephant proper, and an observation area at the top with panoramic sea views. It burned down in 1896. Another, officially named Light of Asia (dubbed Old Jumbo by locals), opened in Cape May in 1884, but was generally unsuccessful and torn down within 15 years.^[7]

1900s

Through the first half of the 20th century, Lucy served as a restaurant, business office, cottage, and tavern (the last closed by Prohibition). The building was depicted on many souvenir postcards, often referred to as "The Elephant Hotel of Atlantic City." (The actual hotel was in a nearby building, not inside the elephant.)

Save Lucy Committee and Restoration

By the 1960s, Lucy had fallen into disrepair and was scheduled for demolition. In 1969, Edwin T. Carpenter and a group of Margate citizens formed the Margate Civic Association, which later became the Save Lucy Committee under Josephine Harron and Sylvia Carpenter. They were given a 30-day deadline to move the edifice or pay for its demolition. Various fund-raising events, the most successful a door-to-door canvass by volunteers, raised money.
In 1970, the building was moved about 100 yards to the west-southwest and a bit inward from the shoreline and completely refurbished. The building's original wooden frame was buttressed new steel, and the deteriorated howdah was replaced with a replica. A plug of green glass set into the howdah platform refracts light into Lucy's interior.^[8]
In 1972, Lucy appeared in the movie The King of Marvin Gardens, starring Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern.
In 1976, Lucy was designated a National Historic Landmark.
In 1980, Lucy can be briefly seen in the opening of the film Atlantic City.
In 1983, Lucy is shown on a postcard with a picture in the opening credits of the film, National Lampoon's Vacation.^[9]
In 1986, Lucy appeared on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Mr. (Fred) Rogers was shown taking a short tour of Lucy. ^[10]

2000s

HABS image

Every July 20, the building's birthday is celebrated with children's games and much fanfare.
A Lucy-inspired structure is featured as the boudoir of Nicole Kidman's character in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge.
In 2006, The television series, Weird U.S., shown on The History Channel featured Lucy in an episode.^[11]
In 2006, Lucy was struck by lightning, blackening the tips of the tusks.
In November, 2006, the building was prominently featured in an advertisement for Proformance Insurance.
Lucy was featured in the 2009 television show Life After People, which illustrated how the environment would take over the structure without people to maintain Lucy.
In a 2011 episode of Boardwalk Empire, which takes place mostly in Atlantic City, Agent Van Alden mentions "a hotel shaped like an elephant" among the local attractions.
In October, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall near Margate. Lucy remained unscathed, although part of the surge reached the building's toes and a small booth in the parking lot was blown over.^[8]
Lucy was featured in the 2012 book, Stay Close by Harlan Coben (ISBN 1101561173).
On June 14, 2014, The Travel Channel's Monumental Mysteries featured Lucy the Elephant in an episode.^[12]
April 18, 2015: Lucy was featured in the Bill Griffith daily comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead".
In 2015, Lucy was featured in the opening credits of a remake of the film Vacation, similar to the original 1983 movie,

References

↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Atlantic County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. June 2, 2011. p. 5. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
↑ National Park Service (2006-03-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ "Lucy, The Margate Elephant". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2008-06-23.
↑ Jacobs, Emma (July 11, 2015). "Elephants Never Forget — And At 6 Stories Tall, This One's Unforgettable". www.wnyc.org. NPR. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
1 2 3 McMahon, William (1988). The Story of Lucy the Elephant. Margate, N.J.: Save Lucy Committee, Inc. p. 40.
↑ http://www.njsouth.com/index-lucy.htm
↑ Tischler, Susan (2016). "What Happened to South Cape May?". www.capemay.com. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
1 2 Fears, Danika. "Historic landmark 'Lucy the Elephant' survived Sandy". The Today Show. NBC News. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
↑ "Lucy the Elephant". CityAtlantic.com. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
↑ "TheKidsMagic - Mr. Rogers Episode #1570". www.thekidsmagic.com. 1986. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
↑ "Lucy The Elephant, Margate". www.weirdnj.com. Weird NJ. 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
↑ "Lucy the Elephant". Monumental Mysteries. The Travel Channel, LLC. Retrieved 15 December 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lucy the Elephant.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

U.S. Patent 268503

National Register of Historic Places in Atlantic County, New Jersey

Historic districts	Bay Front Historic District Bethlehem Loading Company Mays Landing Plant Archeological Historic District Estellville Glassworks Historic District Linwood Historic District Marven Gardens Historic District Mays Landing Historic District Port Republic Historic District John Stafford Historic District

Other properties	Absecon Lighthouse Atlantic City Convention Hall Capt. Francis Babcock House Barclay Court Belcoville Post Office William L. Black House Amanda Blake Store Church of the Ascension Church of the Redeemer John Doughty House Egg Harbor Commercial Bank Great Egg Coast Guard Station Head of the River Church Holmhurst Hotel Jacobus Evangelical Lutheran Church Capt. John Jeffries Burial Marker Linwood Borough School No. 1 Lucy the Elephant Madison Hotel Mays Landing Presbyterian Church Morton Hotel Neutral Water Health Resort Sanitarium Dr. Jonathan Pitney House Pleasant Mills Samuel Richards Hotel Jeremiah II or Edward Risley House Santa Rita Apartments Segal Building Shelburne Hotel Smithville Apothecary Somers Mansion St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church Ventnor City Hall Weymouth Weymouth Road Bridge World War I Memorial

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Atlantic County, New Jersey and List of National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.