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All the United States Pennsylvania Orrtanna Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum

Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum

An almost life-sized elephant named Ms. Ellie greets visitors at this jumbo-themed museum.

Orrtanna, Pennsylvania

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  howardfeingold / Atlas Obscura User
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Inside the museum   Alan Levine / CC BY 2.0
Mr. Ed’s from the road   Map Data © 2012 Google
Ed’s Truck!   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Teapot Museum in a separate building onsite.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Sign on the front of the museum   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
And now, a word on elephant dung!   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Every collection begins somewhere.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
One of a number of “Pachyderm Points” posted inside the museum.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Santa mixed in with the elephants   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Mr. Ed’s sign   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
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Mr. Ed’s Elephant Museum   emwatt72 / Atlas Obscura User
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Bowling ball art outside Mr. Ed’s [Dec. 2022]   donnatalarico / Atlas Obscura User
Elephant mural mosaic made of fragmnets of items lost [Dec. 2022]in a 2010 fire.   donnatalarico / Atlas Obscura User
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Ed Gotwalt has found the perfect outlet for his elephant obsession. Although it’s unclear whether his pachyderm fixation has anything to do with politics, his collection goes way beyond Republican memorabilia, incorporating more than 12,000 elephant figurines, circus souvenirs, and toys.

Like many eccentric collections, Ed’s amassing of elephants began with a gift he received as a young man. An entrepreneur in spirit, Ed managed a series of Giant Supermarkets in the Washington, D.C. area before deciding to turn his massive collection of elephants into a museum not far from his home town of York, Pennsylvania. The museum contains elephants of all sizes and constructed of all materials, including an almost life-sized one named Ms. Ellie, who greets customers out front. 

Alongside the museum, Mister Ed’s offers the standard roadside tourist trappings of gift shop, homemade fudge, and gardens full of campy lawn objects. The crown jewel, however, is the collection itself, certainly worth a stop if you are driving near Gettysburg.

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Shops Elephants Roadside Attractions Animals Museums And Collections Museums

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lalalalinoleum

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Jane Weinhardt Goldberg, haveaheart4hounds, emwatt72, Ike Allen...

  • Jane Weinhardt Goldberg
  • haveaheart4hounds
  • emwatt72
  • Ike Allen
  • howardfeingold
  • pinkestflamingo
  • donnatalarico
  • blimpcaptain
  • SemiruralYeti
  • dawngreene88

Published

June 26, 2016

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Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum
6019 Chambersburg Rd
Orrtanna, Pennsylvania
United States
39.898333, -77.430014
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