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Two New Jersey locations make list of ‘world’s largest roadside attractions’

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Two New Jersey locations make list of ‘world’s largest roadside attractions’

What’s that over there! You might say that a lot when driving across the United States because our country is known for some of the world’s largest roadside attractions.

A list compiled of the nation’s largest roadside attractions by BatchGeo, a mapping software, has two New Jersey locations on it.

Across 41 states, the website composed the “Largest Map of the World’s Largest Roadside Attractions.” The two Jersey attractions are “The World’s Largest Elephant” and “The World’s Largest Water Tower.”

Lucy the Elephant

The elephant statue is located in Margate City down the Jersey Shore in Atlantic County. Her name is “Lucy the Elephant” located along the beach in Josephine Harron Park. According to her own website, she is six stories high and is on the National Park Registry of Historical Landmarks. There are even picnic tables surrounding her so you can enjoy some food next to this historic attraction.

The elephant was built in 1891 by James Lafferty of Philadelphia. She was named Lucy in 1902 when Sophia Gertzen built a tavern surrounding her. She was about to be demolished around 1970 until the The Save Lucy Committee raised the funds to have her restored and moved to a city-owned property. She remains a marvelous tourist attraction for those visiting the Jersey Shore.

Union water sphere

“The World’s Largest Water Tower” is named on the list but it may be more accurately described as “The World’s Largest Water Sphere” located in Union.

The 212-foot tall tower stands at convergence of the Garden State Parkway and Routes 22 and 82. The landmark has its own blog made by Union native fan who has taken a great devotion to the spectacle. The website is dedicated to it’s history along with a collection of pictures.

It was built in 1964 by Chicago Bridge and Iron Industries. It is drained and inspected every other year as it creates water pressure for a water distribution system. Technically, A 216-foot tower in Edmund, Oklahoma, is a taller water tower but it is not known for it’s great sphere shape.

Union Police Activities League (P.A.L.) hosted a LEGO building building contest of the tower in October of 2023 where participants built replicants of the water tower out of LEGO pieces. Union Mayor Manuel Figueiredo, and Union Committeeman James Bowser were the judges. Amanda Abbate’s son won the competition for the “spookiest water sphere building.”

Other landmarks across the country

The website separates the categories listed as animal, thing, food, place, person and plant. California and Ohio lead the way with the most landmarks with 14 each. Four other states have more than 10 attractions listed.

The website warns some disputes and duplicates might be drawn on the map. The World’s Largest Peanut and The World’s Largest Egg for example have two different locations competing for each of those titles.

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