Somers Stands by the Elephant Hotel

Somers has a wonderfully odd local landmark in the Elephant Hotel, and the story is more than a novelty. Around 1805, Hachaliah Bailey bought an elephant called Old Bet and began showing her locally and then farther from home. That one animal helped pull Somers into the early American menagerie business.

The hotel opened in 1825, after Bailey had become a successful showman. Town history says the granite shaft and elephant statue in front honored his elephants, and the building later worked as an inn, tearoom, residence, meeting place, bank setting, general store, ballroom, and post office. Somers bought it in 1927. Today it holds town offices, the historical society, and a museum.

That is a lot of public life for one building. It also explains why Somers can claim a circus thread without sounding like it is grabbing at trivia. The historical society connects the Elephant Hotel and local menagerie families to the roots of the American circus, while town history calls Somers the “Cradle of the American Circus.”

Nearby Muscoot Farm adds the quieter side of the town. Westchester County Parks keeps the farm open as a public place with animals, programs, and open grounds. The elephant draws the grin; the farm keeps the story grounded.

Together they make Somers feel sturdy and a little surprising: civic offices in an old hotel, circus memory in the front yard, and farm paths still close to the road.