Margate City Travel Guide

3 more images

"Lucy -The Worlds' Largest Elephant"
is a must if you are in the area.

Picture #1 / Lucy - Past & Present

Picture #2 / Lucy - Past & Present

Picture #3 / Lucy - Frontal Picture

Picture #4 / Watertower - Margate

Closed:
January, February & March

Tours begin every 30 minutes at the top and bottom of the
hour. Last tour begins 30 minutes before closing time.

Schedule subject to change without notice ....

Price of Admission:
$5.00 adults
$3.00 under 12
Children under 2 years old are admitted free

1 more image

"Lucy -The Worlds' Largest Elephant"
is a must if you are in the area.

The pictures are of where you enter, and the
building in the other photo is the Gift shop.

It is a National Historic Landmark,
and certainly has alot of history surrounding
it.

Closed:
January, February & March

Tours begin every 30 minutes at the top and bottom of the
hour. Last tour begins 30 minutes before closing time.

Schedule subject to change without notice ....

Price of Admission:
$5.00 adults
$3.00 under 12
Children under 2 years old are admitted free

Lucy is the worlds largest (sheet metal) pachyderm. She is also, the only elepant is the united states of america that is actually designated as a National Historic Landmark. Lucy the Elephant was built in 1881 as a promotion by a local real estate developer. That person sure was smart, because it cost money to get inside Lucy. I think for about 5 bucks, you can walk around her insides, and view what shes make of. Lucy is an amazing 6 stories tall... and she weighs a whopping 90 tons. But dont worry, thats mostly in her body. There are stairs to get up there, so once your in her belly, i think your okay untill you haev to walk back down. You wouldn't believe how many people come to visit Lucy. Records say that more than 25,000 people come to tour Lucy. Come experience a piece history in Margate, NJ.

Lucy the Margate Elephant is the only remaining example of zoomorphic architecture left in the US. One of the most famous landmarks in Margate, it is now a musuem (and a national historic landmark) as well as a snack shop (I Love Lucy andwich shop) where locals go to get a bite while sunbathing.

In 1881 James V. Lafferty of Philadelphia, PA came to Margate and started to build Lucy the Elephant. Mr. Lafferty was a real estate entrepreneur. He built the elephant to lure potential lot buyers from Philadelphia and Atlantic City. The Elephant, intended strictly as an amusement attraction, is said to have cost $65,000. It measured 122 feet in height and contained seven floors of exhibits and rooms.

In the late 1880s, the elephant was bought by John and Sophie Gertzen, who operated the elephant building alternately as a tourist attraction, miniature hotel, private beach cottage and tavern. Sophie is credited with naming the elephant Lucy. In 1920, Lucy the Elephant tavern was forced to close by the passage of Prohibition. When that law was repealed in 1933, she immediately became a bar again. She remained in disrepair until the late '60s.

In 1969, just ahead of the wrecker's ball, the "Save Lucy Committee" formed. In 1974, Lucy was refurbished and moved to its current location. She is open to the public from 10am to 4:30pm (later in the summer) for $4 for adults and $3 for children.