Elephant Hotel

The Elephant Hotel is a historic building in Somers, in Westchester County, New York, built by the showman Hachaliah Bailey, who began construction in 1821 after buying an African elephant he named Old Bet. Bailey meant to use the animal for farm work, but crowds paid to see her, so he toured her through the northeast, and his tours are counted among the first of their kind and an early step toward the modern circus. The building served as a hotel and was incorporated in 1835 by the Zoological Institute. The town of Somers bought it in 1927 and still uses it as the town hall. A monument to Old Bet stands in front, placed in 1827. The Somers Historical Society occupies the third floor and runs the Museum of the Early American Circus. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005.