Map and Directions to Lucy
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Map and Directions
to Lucy
Lucy, the Margate Elephant, is a 65 foot-high wood frame/metal-skinned elephant who is waiting to see you. She stands quietly, patiently, in Margate, New Jersey, just south of Atlantic City, guarding the beach.
Lucy was built in 1881 by real estate
speculator James Lafferty as an advertisement for land that he wished to
sell. Prospective buyers were encouraged to climb the stairs in Lucy's
hind legs to enter her midsection,
A winding staircase in Lucy's leg is behind this door
and then up another set of stairs to the howdah on her
back, high above the ground, where the available parcels of land could
be pointed out.
Howdah
Today, visitors can enter Lucy in the same way, led on a guided tour. Inside her, there is a small museum and a video telling some of her history, and you can still go up to the howdah to see the view.
Just to set the record straight, some people think that Lucy was once a hotel, but it's not so. There used to be a nearby structure, called "The Elephant Hotel", but it no longer exists. However, Lucy was rented out to an English family for one summer season in 1902 as a kind of giant beach cabin.
Moving Day:
On July 20, 1970, the 89-year-old pachyderm was moved
several blocks to her present site and rehabilitated by the Save Lucy Committee.
Lucy poses with Josephine Harron of the Save Lucy
Committee
Josephine Harron describes how the elephant building "Lucy" was moved
Wait, hold the presses! Actually, Lucy is standing there
quite calmly, above her gift shop, with a little girl cuddling her giant
foot. And, the condominiums in the background appear to be fairly safe, too!
View from inside
"Come visit me soon!" - seen here, Lucy seems to be smiling!
More: there is a Lucy Gift shop, and outdoor dancing on some summer evenings (call 609-823-6473 for further info).
Directions: Lucy is just South of Atlantic City in Margate NJ, at 9200 Atlantic Avenue. From the mainland, Exit 36 from the Garden State Parkway, follow signs to Margate Bridge, continue on Jerome Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, then turn right and head South for several blocks til you see Lucy.
Open Daily in Summer, Mid-June through Labor Day 10AM - 8PM Mon - Sat, 10AM
- 5PM Sundays.
Off-season: After Labor Day through December, and April through Mid-June,
weekends only 10AM - 5PM (call 609-823-6473)
Admission fee: $4.00 Adults, $2.00 for children under 12
Address: 9200 Atlantic Avenue, Margate, NJ 08402
Phone: (609) 823-6473
If you can't visit, but want to help keep this piece of
historical whimsy alive, send
donations to: SAVE LUCY COMMITTEE, Inc., P.O. Box 3336,
Margate, NJ 08402
The End!
Leave NJSouth and go to Lucy's Official web site
See more about
Lucy the Margate Elephant in the video "Great Places in South Jersey"
© 2007 Clay Mikolasy, Producer of "Great Places in South Jersey"
02/08/2007