Moments in time at The Elephant Hotel

SOMERS, N.Y. - This year marks the 200th anniversary of the completion of The Elephant Hotel. 

While much has happened here over the years, the exact date, design source and builder are not known. However, it is known that sometime between 1820 and 1825, Hachaliah Bailey constructed the building, making it, among other things, a public lodging place and headquarters of his menagerie business. In 2005, it was named a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior; an honor bestowed on 2,600 properties in the US, 276 of which are in New York State. The Elephant Hotel shares this distinction with the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, John Jay Homestead, U.S. Capitol, and the White House.

To commemorate this anniversary year, each month we will be highlighting some facet of the building’s history in this column “Moments in Time at the Elephant Hotel.”   

We hope you enjoy reading and visiting our beloved Elephant Hotel! 

January

On January 14, 1835, a group of 135 individuals signed the Articles of Incorporation of the Zoological Institute in The Elephant Hotel. These men were primarily all the active menagerie owners and managers in the Northeast, as well as individuals whose businesses relied on the shows and almost all residents of Westchester and Putnam counties. The Zoological Institute was a capital stock company with its stated purpose “… for keeping a large collection of rare and curious animals and exhibiting them for the joint benefit, interest and advantage of the owners thereof at such times and places in such lots and such parcels in such a manner as shall best promote their interests and by means of which the knowledge of natural history may be more generally diffused and promoted and rational curiosity satisfied.”  

The Institute’s appraised value (animals, equipment, real estate) was $329,325 in total capital, more than $11 million in today’s valuation. The organization purchased performance space in NYC at 37 Bowery, which served as its winter quarters. During its tenure, the Zoological Institute operated a virtual monopoly on the animal show business. In many ways, its operations can be likened to an early form of franchising. In 1837, the Zoological Institute was disbanded and its property sold at auction in The Elephant Hotel.  

The Elephant Hotel was given the designation of National Historic Landmark in large part, because of the formation of the Zoological Institute there. Noted circus historian Stuart Thayer states in his book Annals of the American Circus, Vol II, “if one was to choose a symbol of the menagerie business in America it would have to be The Elephant Hotel in Somers, NY.”

Article courtesy of Somers Historical Society.