Elephantine Colossus

The seven-story structure designed by James V. Lafferty stood above Surf Avenue and West 12th Street from 1885 until 1896, when it burnt down in a fire.

[1] Built two years before the Statue of Liberty, it was said to be the first artificial structure visible to immigrants arriving to the United States.

Its manager claimed to see, from the elephant's back, Yellowstone Park, Rio de Janeiro, and Paris.

[4] As Coney Island became more established as a center of tourism and leisure, the elephant began to serve as a brothel as well.

[5] The property was afterward incorporated into Luna Park, where A Trip to the Moon stood on the site of the former hotel.

The Elephantine Colossus
Lafferty received a patent for his Zoomorphic Architecture in 1882. U.S. patent 268,503
A Coney Island Tragedy: Burning of the Historic Elephant
Cover from October 10, 1896 issue of The Illustrated American