The Curious Tale of Springhill’s Elephant Burial Site

One thing for sure about Louisiana is that we have stories. Lots of them. Whether you're into ghost stories, voodoo queens, monsters, weather conspiracies, or anything in between, there's something in Louisiana legend for you.

While most of these tales are fiction or only loosely based in reality, there are some Louisiana legends that absolutely true. And getting to the bottom of them are part of the fun and mystery.

That brings us to the old story that there's an Elephant buried behind the Piggly Wiggly in Springhill, Louisiana. Is it fact? Is it fiction? Somewhere in between? Well, here's the whole story. And, there's a lot more to it than you may have originally heard.

Is There an Elephant Buried in Springhill Behind the Piggly Wiggly?

I'm not going to beat around the bush - this North Louisiana legend is 100% fact. But, the tale is more sad and tragic than you would imagine just from hearing the original legend. You hear that an elephant is buried behind a Piggly Wiggly there are lots of thought that run through your mind - "How did it get there?" "What was an elephant doing at the Piggly Wiggly?" "What happened?".

Unfortunately for Ellie, the incident was avoidable and absolutely tragic.

Ellie the Elephant and her trainer were killed on April 17th, 1984 in a bizarre accident. According to the original Shreveport Times article, the elephant and trainer were killed while trying to set up the 'big top' for the Roller Brothers Circus. The incident happened at the Piggly Wiggly Shopping Center.

To make a long story short: The circus was using the elephant to pull up the central metal pole of the tent when the pole stuck an overhead powerline. The powerline electrocuted the elephant, causing it to fall onto top of the trainer, killing both instantly. Another worker was injured during the incident, suffering burns to his back and legs.

Get our free mobile app

Ellie was buried behind the Piggly Wiggly in an 18 foot long and 12 foot deep grave. At the time of her death, Ellie was 40 years old and had been working for the circus for 2 years. Despite the dead elephant and trainer, the circus went on and performed as scheduled. As Circus Supervisor Jim Silverlake told the Times at the time "The show must go on, it's an old circus tradition."

Believe it or Not, Ellie Isn't the Only Elephant Buried Locally

Ellie is one of three elephants buried in the greater Shreveport area.

Yes, 3 elephants met their tragic demise in our general area. All with interesting stories of their own.

The first was Trilby. She was a member of the Mighty Haag Circus sometime in the early 20th century (the Circus operated from 1910 to 1947). There's not a lot of details known about what happened to Trilby, but allegedly, she died of pneumonia on Fairfield Ave while wintering in Shreveport.

Now the urban legend part of this particular story is this: allegedly, they buried the elephant where she fell and that spot is now the home of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Now is that fact or fiction? There's not enough details available to say conclusively.

The third elephant buried locally is Lady Lemah - she was the elephant at the Hamel's Zoo in Shreveport. We know she died at the old age of 58 in 1969. The legend part of this story is that she allegedly died of a broken heart because she quit eating and living a normal life when Charles Hamel died. She is buried in the mound along Clyde Fant Parkway.

So, there you go: a little bizarre Shreveport elephant history that you may or may not know.