place.
There exist no fewer than 13,659 places named after elephants, on every continent except the Arctic. We say this in the full knowledge one of you is about to send us a photo of you standing in front of an Elephant Bar & Grill on Baffin Bay.
Spoiler alert. Some entries in the Table make veiled reference to entries elsewhere. Because some of you tell us you’ve enjoyed discovering these associations on your own, may we suggest holding off reading the rubric items until you’ve spent some time with the Table as a whole? Which, if you can’t spring for the print, you’re welcome to find here.
Place
32 | Elephant Lake
Aka Spirit Lake, this is on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. It is alternately open or closed to the public by the local tribal council depending on degree of vandalism to the surrounding park. Nice for silvers and rainbows.
Place
33 | Mammoth Cave
The longest cave system known in the world, it is 668 kilometers (or 415 miles) in length. Mammoth Cave is home to the endangered Kentucky Cave Shrimp, a sightless albino shrimp. Common fossils found in the cave include blastoids and gastropods, but no mammoths.
Place
34 | Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle has two linked London Underground stations on the Northern and Bakerloo lines. The name is derived from a coaching inn, which Shakespeare mentions in Twelfth Night, when in Act 3, Scene 3, Antonio says “In the south suburbs, at the Elephant, is best to lodge.” Nearby, on some nights, the London College of Communication may appear out of the mists to the howls of wolves.
Place
35 | De Olifant
Originally built in 1856 at Oostwold, it drained the Oosterwolderpolder. In 1867, it was moved to Burdaard, whereupon it drained the Olifantpolder.
Place
36 | Elephant Mound
A prehistoric earthwork near Wyalusing, Wisconsin, it draws its name from its massive form and prolongation of the effigy’s nose Some hold it to be evidence local Indians at one time lived contemporaneously with mastodons Some think it’s just a bear with a big nose.
Place
37 | Elephant Graveyard
It was long believed the Legendary Elephant Graveyard was a secret place where old elephants went to die.
Currently, demand in the EU for legal antique ivory continues to fuel the ongoing poaching of living elephants; Japan continues to import great quantities of ivory; and in 2017, Donald Trump lifted a ban on ivory imports from Zimbabwe implemented by Barack Obama.
Place
46 | Elephant of the Bastille
Conceived in 1808 by Napoléon I, this monument was to be made from bronze and located in the Place de la Bastille. However, only a plaster full-scale model was ever built. At 24 meters (78 feet) high, it features in Hugo’s Les Misérables, giving shelter to the street urchin Gavroche. Whenin 1848 its neighbors complained rats had infested the elephant, it was finally removed.
Place
47 | Elephant Mountain
You would be hard pressed to find a single nation on Earth without an Elephant Mountain. Fine, Lichtenstein does not have one. But it does have an Elephant Hill that is very steep.
Place
48 | Elephant Island
Not to be confused with Elephanta Island, Elephant Jason Island, Elephantine Island, Elephants Island, or all those other Elephant Islands, the best-known Elephant Island is an uninhabited mountainous island (probably it has an Elephant Mountain) off the coast of Antarctica.
Place
49 | Elephant Arch
Elephant Arch is a natural sandstone formation in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in northern Utah. Surrounding it are numerous towers and fins, including Parade of Elephants. No shade, and the trail is a sandy wash so plan on a workout for your calves.
Place
50 | Elephant Butte
A volcanic core similar to Devils Tower in Wyoming, it is now an island in Elephant Butte Reservoir. Double Arch is a feature of Elephant Butte and appeared as a backdrop for the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (co-written by Tom Stoppard, of all people). In 2014, just beneath the surface of the sandy beach, a bachelor party stumbled across a stegomastodon skull in excellent condition. It was awesome.
Place
51 | Elephant Building
A rare architectural expression of Whimsical Neo-Brutalism, this 32-story urban complex houses a shopping mall, business offices, and luxury condos. Its ears are multi-storied balconies, its eyes are huge windows, and its tail is comprised of twenty stories of smoked-glass enclosed rooms jutting from its rear.
Place
52 | Elephant Hotel
Until the construction of the Elephant Building (No. 51) in 1997, this was for a long timethe world’s largest elephant. Built in 1881 as a real estate gimmick, “Lucy the Elephant” has since served as a hotel, a restaurant, and a beach house. It’s now a tourist attraction inviting visitors to experience the thrill of standing inside a six-story elephant.