A giant, creepy elephant statue that watches over the Jersey Shore? And now it is an AirBnB?
You can imagine my intrigue.
I grew up in Maryland and as a result always went to Maryland beaches. Since moving to Philadelphia, I’ve heard people sing the praises of New Jersey’s beaches, but no one mentioned Lucy the Elephant until recently. I have been fascinated with her ever since, and I want to share what I’ve learned with others because everyone deserves to know about Lucy the Elephant.
Photo from atlanticcitynj.com
Isn’t she beautiful?
Lucy has been standing in Margate, New Jersey since 1881. She was built by James A. Lafferty, a real estate developer, in hopes to boost tourism. Apparently, it worked because people came from all around the world to stay near this 65 foot tall tin and wood elephant. According to atlanticcitynnj.com, royalty, presidents, and other big named people would come to the jersey shore to stay in the accompanying “Elephant Hotel” and tour Lucy.
She’s called “The World’s Largest Elephant” because, well, she is the largest depiction of an elephant that exists. But she also gets that name because she was designed to look like PT Barnum’s elephant “Jumbo” was marketed as the “Largest Elephant on Earth”. But Lucy has got Jumbo beat.
Lucy was one of three; Lafferty built two other elephants, one on Coney Island and another in Cape May. These other two didn’t last the years, and apparently Lucy almost didn’t make it either. Lucy didn’t just experience normal wear and tear that statues do because Lucy is an actual functioning building.
This is what blew my mind. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see windows. Lucy has served many purposes over the years, she’s been a real-estate office, offices for other buildings, a restaurant, etc. Apparently, she was once even a tavern, but that stopped after some visitors got particularly drunk and almost burned her down. I cannot imagine anything cooler than conducting business out of Lucy.
For a while, her popularity calmed down, and she became just a tourist attraction. Without the upkeep, Lucy started to go downhill from neglect. She never fell apart, but she was on the verge for a while.
Photo from WeirdNJ.com
In the 1970s, a developer bought the land Lucy is built on and planned on constructing condominiums. To do this, he planned on tearing down everything on the land including Lucy. Residents of New Jersey revolted and started a campaign called “Save Lucy.” These devoted New Jerseyans raised enough money to move Lucy the Elephant in her entirety to a new site so that she would not be affected by the developer’s plans. They kept up the fundraising and, over the next 30 years, were able to do a full restoration to bring her back to her prime.
Now, Lucy is safe and was declared a national landmark. She soon will open to overnight guests as an AirBnB. That’s right. For $138 a night, you can sleep inside Lucy the Elephant,and based on the pictures, it seems like a pretty nice place.
Photo from cnn.com
I would definitely stay there.
So, that’s Lucy the Elephant: a kind of creepy elephant statue turned AirBnB that watches over the Jersey Shore. When I first learned about her, I did not expect as weird a history as I found. What could be more normal than a 65 foot elephant?
At least I know where I’m going when this pandemic is over.
Featured Image by David M Warren on the Philadelphia Inquirer
