{"nrhp_refnum":"05000462","name":"Elephant Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"335 Route 202","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somers","county":"Westchester County","state":"NY","lat":41.328739191500034,"lon":-73.685817501462,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-04-05","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2005-04-05","areas_of_significance":[],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Federal-style brick building at 335 Route 202 in the hamlet of Somers, Westchester County, New York, built between 1820 and 1825 by Hachaliah Bailey as a residence, public lodging place and menagerie headquarters.","why_significant":"The nomination argues national significance for the building's association with the formative history of the American circus, centered on Bailey and his elephant Old Bet. It is also presented as a rare, well-preserved example of a rural turnpike hotel in the Federal style, with notable interior decoration and original fabric.","narrative":"Built between 1820 and 1825 at the crossroads in Somers, New York, this three-story brick hotel served Hachaliah Bailey as a home, a lodging place and the headquarters of his menagerie business. It is linked to the early American circus through Bailey and his elephant Old Bet, whose statue stands in front. The five-bay Federal-style facade is symmetrical, with a marble basement and window sills, a hipped roof and a columned entrance porch. Walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond on the principal sides. Inside, a center hall with a groined vault, plaster cornices, marble mantels and original doors survive, along with early brick partitions meant to resist fire. The building later held a bank, was joined to an annex until 1907, and received additions in 1943 and 1959. It now serves as municipal offices. Its circus history and its well-preserved Federal-period architecture are the reasons it was designated.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Hachaliah Bailey (builder/owner; exact designer and builder not known)","architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Now used as Somers town hall (City Hall function); exterior brick walls and principal interior spaces remain largely intact despite additions in 1943 and 1959.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.306886-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000462_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000462/0fb5c6df96-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000462/0fb5c6df96-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_Hotel_2007.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_Hotel_2007.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316124","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5359324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/westchester-county/elephant-hotel-05000462/"}