Lucy the Elephant: Margate, New Jersey

Lucy the Elephant has been everything from a summer home to a bar.
Atlantic City CVA
Lucy the Elephant has been everything from
a summer home to a bar.

Looming 65 feet over the Margate beach in New Jersey, Lucy the Elephant is the only example of "zoomorphic architecture" left in the United States, with staircases in her legs leading to rooms inside.

The big girl was originally built as a real estate promotion, and she has since served as summer home, tavern, hotel, and tourist attraction.

A 1970 relocation spared Lucy from the wrecking ball; preservationists completed a loving restoration in 2000.

Find out what a couple of "duck ranchers" built to sell their Peking ducks on the next page.

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