Lucy the Elephant

I love offbeat and quirky kinds of places – for just the reasons that they are offbeat and quirky.  I’ve even been known to drive out of my way to see the “biggest,” “smallest,” “world’s only,” “oldest” thing or whatever.

Lucy the Elephant, a couple miles south of Atlantic City in Margate, New Jersey, is one of those quirky attractions that I’ve heard a lot about, but haven’t managed to see yet.

Lucy is a six story, 90 ton elephant made of wood and tin sheeting, and was erected in 1881 to attract tourism and development to the south Atlantic City area.  While architecturally unique at its time, she was only the first of several zoomorphic (elephant-shaped) buildings.  Zoomorphic architecture is apparently extinct, and Lucy is the only one to still exist. 

Lucy has been a restaurant, office building, and a tavern, before being moved, refurbished and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976.  Yep, that’s right – this elephant is a historical landmark!

You can find Lucy at 9200 Atlantic Avenue, in Margate, New Jersey.  I’m hoping to get back to Atlantic City in the next few months, and visiting Lucy is on my to-do list.  Why?  Cause she’s just too quirky to pass up!

NOTE:  Interestingly, Lucy has tusks – found only in male Asian elephants – so feel free to draw whatever transgender elephant conclusions you wish.

Photo credit:  Flickr (head shot); (full elephant)

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