National Register of Historic Places

Big Duck, The

Flanders, Suffolk County, New York
Listed
April 27, 1997
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
97000164

About this property

The Big Duck is a 20-foot (6.1 m) tall ferrocement building in the shape of a duck: a canonical example of novelty architecture. Built in 1931 in Riverhead, New York, United States, it was moved several times to various locations on eastern Long Island, ending up in Flanders in 2007. Well-known for its distinctive appearance, this structure inspired the word duck as a common term in academic literature used to refer to buildings shaped like everyday objects or describe excessive ornamentation used in graphical presentations of data. The Big Duck was built in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Maurer for use as a shop to sell ducks and duck eggs. This was during a period when duck farming was a growing industry on eastern Long Island and novelty architecture was on the rise due to the increasing popularity of automobiles. The building attracted both widespread academic criticism and public acclaim. It was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1997 and is a principal building on the Big Duck Ranch, which was listed on both registers in 2008.

Location

Flanders, Suffolk County, New York
40.88806, -72.55704

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Nearby Historic Sites

Squires, Ellis Jr., House
Industrial
1.8 mi
Gravesite, Rev. Paul Cuffee
Listed
2.5 mi
Benjamin, James, Homestead
Industrial
3.3 mi
Big Duck Ranch
Listed
3.6 mi
Chase, William Merritt, Homestead
Industrial
4.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Big Duck, The listed on the National Register?

Big Duck, The was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 1997.

What type of historic resource is Big Duck, The?

Big Duck, The is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Big Duck, The?

The period of significance for Big Duck, The is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Big Duck, The?

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