The Elephantine Colossus (also known as the Colossal Elephant or the Elephant Colossus, or by its function as the Elephant Hotel) was a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

located on

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...

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. It was built in the shape of an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

, an example of novelty architecture. 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. During its lifespan, the thirty-one room building acted as a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that m ...

and amusement bazaar. It was the second of three elephant buildings built by Lafferty, preceded by the extant Lucy the Elephant near Atlantic City and followed by ''The Light of Asia'' in

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Size

At tall, the Coney Island Elephant was approximately twice the dimensions of Lucy the Elephant, which had pre-dated it by four years; with the exception of the designs of their respective

howdah A howdah, or houdah (Hindi: हौदा ''haudā''), derived from the Arabic (hawdaj), which means "bed carried by a camel", also known as ''hathi howdah'' (''hāthī haudā'', हाथी हौदा), is a carriage which is positioned o ...

s and the numbers and relative sizes of the windows, externally it was a nearly exact scaled-up copy of Lucy. Its legs were in diameter, with the front legs serving as a cigar store while the back legs held the entrance, a circular stairway. Construction was reported to have cost $65,000. Built two years before the Statue of Liberty, it was said to be the first artificial structure visible to immigrants arriving to the

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. Construction required 3,500,000 feet of lumber, 11,000 kegs of nails, 12 tons of iron bolts and of tin to cover the structure.

Rooms and attractions

Originally intended to serve as a tourist attraction, the elephant contained novelty stalls, a gallery, a grand hall, and a museum in what would be the elephant's left lung. The elephant's eyes contained telescopes and acted as an observatory for visitors. Its manager claimed to see, from the elephant's back, Yellowstone Park,

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, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

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

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...

as well. When the elephant caught fire on September 27, 1896, it had not been used for several years. The property was afterward incorporated into Luna Park, where A Trip to the Moon stood on the site of the former hotel.

In popular culture

Elephantine Colossus Burning 1986 Illustrated American

The Colossus is featured in Victoria Thompson's 2000 mystery novel ''Murder on St. Mark's Place'', about the murder of several call girls who may have been linked to the hotel.

Size

Rooms and attractions

In popular culture

See also