{"nrhp_refnum":"08000866","name":"Big Duck Ranch","other_names":["Maurer Duck Farm"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1012 NY 24","address_restricted":false,"city":"Flanders","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.90920563000003,"lon":-72.62063117799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-09-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 11.3-acre former duck farm district at 1012 Riverhead-Hampton Bays Road (SR 24) in Flanders, Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, established by Martin Maurer in the 1930s and including the Big Duck and three farm outbuildings.","why_significant":"The ranch is significant as the working farm setting of the Big Duck, a rare example of mimetic roadside architecture, and as a surviving record of Long Island's duck industry. Its brooder barn, storage barn and retail store each represent a stage of duck raising, storage or sale of products. It was recognized under agriculture and architecture.","narrative":"Big Duck Ranch is an 11.3-acre former duck farm in Flanders, Long Island, where Martin Maurer ran a duck-raising and retail business from 1936 until 1984. The district centers on the Big Duck, a concrete-over-wire-mesh building shaped like a duck and used as a roadside store. It was moved away in 1987-88 and returned to its original foundation in 2007. Three farm buildings survive with it: a long wooden brooder barn, the last of six, where ducklings were hatched; a one-and-a-half-story storage barn with late-Victorian detailing; and a small stucco retail store. A non-contributing wishing well dates from 1976. The property is important because these buildings show how a Long Island duck farm operated, from propagation to storage to sale. The surrounding meadow, woodland and tidal wetlands along Birch Creek add to the setting. The Town of Southampton plans to restore the buildings as a visitors' center.","period_of_significance":"1936-1952","architect_builder":"Martin Maurer","architectural_style":"no style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Town of Southampton acquired the property in 2001; the Big Duck was returned in 2007 and remains a store and visitor information center owned by Suffolk County. The outbuildings range from good to poor condition and are slated for restoration as a Visitors' Welcome Center.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:54.130781-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000866.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000866/64357fcffe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000866/64357fcffe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Duck_2018_04.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Duck_2018_04.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322037","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Duck_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4905605"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/big-duck-ranch-08000866/"}