Lucy the Elephant

The Saturday Evening Post, April 1978

In 1881, James V. Lafferty was granted by the U.S. Patent Office a 17-year period to make animal-shaped buildings.  He lost no time, and in the same year constructed Lucy, a six-storey high piece of novelty architecture.  In 1969, Lucy was rescued from demolition and restored.  In 1978 Lucy was made a National Historic Landmark.