Lucy the Elephant

A real estate gimmick that outlived its purpose

James V. Lafferty built Lucy in 1881 on the New Jersey shore, modeling her after Jumbo, the famous circus elephant, and patenting the idea of building structures shaped like animals so competitors could not copy him directly. Visitors originally rode a train to Lucy's base, then climbed 130 steps through her leg to a carriage on her back, where Lafferty's sales agents pitched them on nearby lots.

Decades of near misses

Lucy survived storms, changes of ownership, and stretches as a tavern, summer cottage, and office before falling into disrepair by the 1960s and facing demolition. A local preservation campaign, the Save Lucy Committee, raised funds door to door and moved her roughly 100 yards to a new city owned lot in 1970, saving her permanently.

Still standing, still strange

Lucy is a National Historic Landmark and was voted the top roadside attraction in the country in a 2025 USA Today readers poll, more than 140 years after she was built to sell beachfront lots that, in some cases, never sold at all. The mystery is less what is she and more how a wooden elephant has survived this long when almost everything around her has been rebuilt at least once.

Lucy is open for guided interior tours seasonally in Margate City, just south of Atlantic City. Check the official site for current tour hours, since the schedule changes by season and ongoing restoration work.