NY 24, NW of jct. with Bellows Pond Rd., Town of Southampton, Flanders, New York. County/parish: Suffolk.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places April 28, 1997. NRIS 97000164.
1 contributing building.
The Big Duck is a ferrocement style building in the shape of a duck, located in Flanders within the Town of Southampton, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States.
The building was originally constructed in the adjacent town, Riverhead, and has been moved several times to various locations on eastern Long Island. The building is well-known for its distinctive appearance. This structure inspired the word "duck" to be a relatively common phrase in academic literature used to refer to buildings shaped like everyday objects or describe excessive ornamentation used in graphical presentations of data.
It was originally built in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Maurer and used as a shop to sell ducks, dairy, and duck eggs. It was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1997. It is a principal building on the Big Duck Ranch, listed on the NRHP and NYSRHP in 2008.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322039