Get your tissues ready. This is a life-sized statue of the most famous elephant in the world, Jumbo. He was tragically killed in Saint Thomas on September 15, 1885 when he was stuck by a locomotive. A terrible accident and on the 100th anniversary, the city dedicated this 38 ton statue as a tribute.
There is parking nearby and you can get a great picture with "The King of Elephants" here.
From the Atlas Obscura article, "It would be easy to assume that Jumbo was named 'Jumbo' because he was so large. At over 13 feet he was definitely tall for an African elephant, but it was the other way around. His name--thought to derive from the Swahili word 'jambo' for 'hello', or 'jumbe' for 'chief' or 'boss'--came before 'jumbo' was slang word for huge. The word that today is used to describe everything from giant shrimp to oversized paper towel rolls comes from the boss elephant himself." And that's pretty awesome.
[Review 1442 of 2024 - 120 in Ontario - 22465 overall] read more
