How often is one able to say they’ve seen a 65 foot elephant that’s been around for the last 131 years? If you were to arrive on the shore of Josephine Harron Park, you might first think you had been at sea for too long and the majestic sight before you to be a mirage. But make no mistake about it, this beautiful six-story historical landmark is no mirage. It’s none other than Lucy, the only elephant in the world “you can walk through and come out alive!”
Lucy was built by James Vincent de Paul Lafferty, Jr. a child of prosperous Irish immigrant parents from Dublin, Ireland. Lafferty grew up to be an engineer and inventor and applied for a patent from the US government stating “My invention consists of a building in the form of an animal, the body of which is floored and divided into rooms… the legs contain the stairs which lead to the body…”. Lucy was constructed in Atlantic City, but was later sold. Since then, Lucy has been a real estate office, a tavern, and even a summer home. Now, since she has been officially declared as a historical landmark, schools are able to schedule field trips to explore the inside and the children get an introduction to Zoomorphic Architecture. After all, who better to learn it from than Lucy? Lucy is the oldest example of Zoomorphic Architecture in the entire world! Lucy is also used for weddings, family reunions, corporate meetings and class reunions.
There is a great gift shop where tourists and even the children on field trips can purchase memories of Lucy to bring home. Another amazing feature about visiting this grand animal is that there is complimentary admission to all members of the United States Military and USA Military Allies throughout the world! Lucy relies on volunteers and the gift shops to help keep her surviving each year. She even has her own Save Lucy Committee, Inc.
If you are going to visit Lucy, we recommend you take a look at her schedule, because she is closed for certain parts of winter, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas. But when you do make it over to the Jersey Shore, be sure to take lots of pictures and write up your story about your Lucy adventure, we can’t wait to hear all about it!
Until next time, Happy RV’ing and watch out for giant elephants!
