Stock Photo of Lucy the Elephant Window Margate New Jersey

Startling Concept: Animal-Shaped Building Atlantic City at that time was fast growing into a Victorian vacation metropolis centered around the Absecon Lighthouse, the landmark that was then the symbol of the seaside resort. Lafferty wanted to establish a similarly impressive landmark and sense of place for his own new development in "South Atlantic City." To gain the attention of the public and press, he chose what was then a startling concept: a building shaped like a gigantic animal.