Things to Do in Margate City

Lucy the Elephant: A 65-Foot Landmark, Restored in 2022

Lucy the Elephant has stood on Margate's shoreline since 1881, making her well over 140 years old and, by the reckoning of preservationists, America's Oldest Surviving Roadside Attraction. She has carried National Historic Landmark status since 1976. In December 2022, Lucy completed a $2.4 million exterior restoration, funded through a combination of government grants and donor contributions, that kept her wooden-and-metal-clad frame sound and her paint and detailing intact for the roughly 130,000 visitors who come to see her every year.

That 2022 restoration was a genuine success story on its own. But it turned out to be only one chapter in a longer, still-continuing saga about who pays to keep a 140-year-old elephant-shaped building standing -- a saga that took a sharp turn in 2025.

The 2025 Funding Crisis and Its Recovery

In April 2025, the Trump administration's DOGE initiative rescinded a $500,000 federal Save America's Treasures grant that the Save Lucy Committee had already been awarded, on top of an existing $300,000 state grant -- $800,000 in total funding suddenly thrown into question. Save Lucy Committee executive director Rich Helfant did not mince words in response: "How do you have a contract, a promise from the government of the United States of America, and they default on it."

Supporters answered the shortfall directly. The committee raised roughly $200,000 through private donations, and Senator Cory Booker encouraged the committee to reapply for federal support. Booker later framed the outcome this way: the committee subsequently received $350,000 in new federal funding -- which, combined with the private donations and the original state grant, gave Lucy's caretakers enough to move forward with interior renovations: replacing a 56-year-old HVAC system, refinishing wood floors, upgrading fire suppression, and repairing water-damaged plaster, work that began in the first quarter of 2026.

That recovery is real and confirmed, but it is worth being precise about what it was for -- interior renovations to the existing elephant, not a new building. The accessibility project described below is a separate, still-in-progress undertaking.

A Separate, Still-Under-Construction Accessibility Center

Lucy's narrow interior stairs mean not every visitor can climb up into her body the way tours traditionally work. To address that, a separate $3.5 million interpretive and accessibility center broke ground next to Lucy in April 2026, funded by up to $1.5 million from the City of Margate plus an ongoing Save Lucy Committee capital campaign. Margate Mayor Michael Collins described the goal plainly: "This project will allow accessibility to everyone and provide an opportunity to experience our beloved landmark."

As of this writing, that center is still under construction, with a projected completion around Memorial Day 2027 -- it is not finished, and anyone planning a visit specifically to see it should not expect it to be open yet. Given that this is an active, multi-year civic project, confirm current construction status and opening details directly with the Save Lucy Committee or the City of Margate before visiting.

Marven Gardens: The Real Monopoly Misspelling, Steps Away

A short walk or drive from Lucy sits Marven Gardens, a genuine 16-acre historic district with 105 contributing buildings, most built in the 1920s and 1930s, added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1990. Its name is a portmanteau of "Margate" and "Ventnor," reflecting the fact that the neighborhood straddles the border between the two towns, bounded by Ventnor, Winchester, Fredericksburg, and Brunswick Avenues.

Marven Gardens has a famous quirk: it appears as a yellow property on the original Monopoly board, but the game misspelled its name as "Marvin Gardens" -- an error traced back to Charles and Olive Todd, who taught the game to Charles Darrow, whose homemade board Parker Brothers later copied for mass production. In 1995, Parker Brothers formally acknowledged the mistake and apologized to residents. Marven Gardens is, notably, the only property on the Monopoly board not actually located within Atlantic City itself -- a detail street signs in the neighborhood now celebrate, with yellow backgrounds and replica house game pieces marking its Monopoly heritage. It is a walkable, low-key stop worth pairing with a visit to Lucy.

Margate's Place on Absecon Island and Nearby Atlantic City

Margate City was originally incorporated as the borough of South Atlantic City on September 7, 1885, carved from Egg Harbor Township. It was reincorporated as a city on April 23, 1897, and renamed Margate City on April 20, 1909, after Margate, Kent, England. The city sits on Absecon Island alongside Atlantic City, Ventnor City, and Longport.

Because Margate shares that barrier island with Atlantic City, visitors get a genuine pairing within a short drive: an afternoon spent with Lucy the Elephant and Marven Gardens' Monopoly history in Margate, and Atlantic City's larger-scale casino and boardwalk entertainment close by for anyone who wants more after dark.

What This Page Does Not Invent

This page is built around what our research confirmed: Lucy the Elephant's 1881 construction, her 65-foot wooden-and-metal-clad structure, her status as America's Oldest Surviving Roadside Attraction and National Historic Landmark since 1976, her estimated 130,000 annual visitors, the completed December 2022 $2.4 million exterior restoration, the April 2025 DOGE rescission of a $500,000 federal grant on top of an existing $300,000 state grant, Rich Helfant's public statement, the roughly $200,000 raised in private donations, Senator Cory Booker's advocacy and the resulting $350,000 in new federal funding, the interior renovation work beginning Q1 2026, the separate $3.5 million interpretive/accessibility center that broke ground in April 2026 with Mayor Michael Collins's quote, its projected Memorial Day 2027 completion, and the Marven Gardens historic district's confirmed history, boundaries, and Monopoly-board misspelling story.

It does not state the interpretive and accessibility center as complete -- it remains an active, in-progress construction project as of this writing, and its actual completion date could shift. It does not state current Margate population figures beyond the 2020 census, current median home prices, current property tax rates, or the names of specific present-day shops or restaurants. New Jersey has its own state sales tax and its own property-tax structure, genuinely different from other states' systems, so confirm current tax and pricing figures directly with Atlantic County, Margate City's own finance office, or the State of New Jersey rather than relying on outdated figures. Confirm current Lucy the Elephant and interpretive-center visiting details, including hours, admission, and construction status, directly with the Save Lucy Committee or the City of Margate before planning a visit.