The Big Duck | |
Location | Flanders, New York |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°54′25.9″N72°37′20.6″W / 40.907194°N 72.622389°W |
Built | 1931 |
Architectural style | Novelty architecture |
Website | bigduck |
NRHP reference No. | 97000164 |
Added to NRHP | April 28, 1997 |
The Big Duck is a ferrocement building in the shape of a duck. Located in Flanders, New York, the building was originally constructed in Riverhead, and has been moved several times to various locations on eastern Long Island. The building is well known for its distinctive appearance, and it inspired the word "duck" to be commonly used in academic literature to refer to either buildings shaped like everyday objects or 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 and duck eggs. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It is a principal building on the Big Duck Ranch, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
The Big Duck is a duck-shaped building in Flanders, New York, 18 by 30 feet (5.5 by 9.1 m) and 20 feet (6.1 m) tall to the top of the head, enclosing 11 by 15 feet (3.4 by 4.6 m) of interior space. [1] The building was designed in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Maurer; shaped like a Pekin duck, it was intended as a farm shop as well as for publicity. [2] [3] Reportedly, Maurer was inspired by a building in the shape of a giant coffee pot which he had seen during a trip to California. [1]
Maurer hired local labor for the construction job; carpenter George Reeve, along with William and Samuel Collins, brothers who have been described as "eccentric stage show set designers". [4] [5] A live duck was used as a model, and a cooked chicken carcass was consulted to ensure an anatomically accurate structure. After the wooden framework was complete, wire mesh was added and covered with cement, [4] a building method known as ferrocement. [6]
The duck's eyes were originally made from Ford Model T tail lights, which glowed red at night. [1] These were later removed and stored at the Suffolk County historical archives. [3] As of 2013 [update] , the original lights had been reinstalled. [7]
The Big Duck opened for business in June 1931 [5] and was featured on the Atlas Cement Company's promotional calendar that year. [5] The November 1932 issue of Popular Mechanics covered the building briefly, noting that it contained a salesroom and an office and sat on a foundation of concrete blocks. [8] A miniature version was installed at the 1939 World's Fair by the Drake Baking Company. [5] In 1939, there were about 90 duck farms in Suffolk County, with many concentrated in the area around Riverhead and Flanders. [9] By 2019, only a single farm was left; the Crescent Duck Farm which had opened in 1908 in Aquebogue. [10]
The building was originally constructed in 1931 on West Main Street (New York State Route 25) in the Upper Mills section of Riverhead. [11] In 1937, Maurer had the building lifted from its foundation and relocated from its original Riverhead location to his new duck ranch in Flanders, four miles (6.4 km) away. [9]
The Big Duck closed as a store in 1984. Four years later, the Suffolk County Department of Parks and Recreation acquired the building and moved it to Sears-Bellows Pond County Park, between Flanders and Hampton Bays and repurposed it as a gift shop operated by the Friends for Long Island Heritage. [9]
In 2004, a proposal was made to move the duck to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Bohemia, with the move estimated to cost at least $60,000. It was claimed that this would both increase the number of visitors and help publicize the airport's new terminal building. [12] The move to the airport never happened and the building was returned to its original Flanders location on October 6, 2007. [3] Suffolk County continues to own it, maintains its interior, and pays for staffing while the Town of Southampton maintains the exterior. The original 27-acre (11 ha) duck farm was purchased by the town in 2006. [13]
Buildings such as this are classified as novelty architecture. However, in architecture the term "duck" is used more specifically to describe buildings that are in the shape of an everyday object to which they relate. According to the Long Island newspaper Newsday , "The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a 'duck'." [14]
Edward Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information uses the term "duck", explicitly named after this building, to describe irrelevant decorative elements in information design: [15]
When a graphic is taken over by decorative forms or computer debris, when the data measures and structures become Design Elements, when the overall design purveys Graphical Style rather than quantitative information, then the graphic may be called a duck in honor of the duck-form store, "Big Duck." For this building the whole structure is itself decoration, just as in the duck data graphic.
The Big Duck was the target of widespread criticism during the 1960s and early 1970s, but the building did have its defenders. [9] Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown said that "Sometimes the building is the sign" and noted that this building –which they referred to as "The Long Island Duckling" –was a "sculptural symbol and architectural shelter". [16] : 13 They used the term "duck" to refer to "a special building that is a symbol", as differentiated from a "conventional shelter that applies symbols", which they called a "decorated shed". [16] : 87–89
On November 13, 2006, radio station WBLI rated the Flanders Duck first amongst the seven wonders of Long Island. [17] In 1997, The Big Duck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, [18] joined by the Big Duck Ranch in 2008. [19]
Long Island is a populous island east of Manhattan in southeastern New York state, constituting a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land area. The island extends from New York Harbor 118 miles (190 km) eastward into the North Atlantic Ocean with a maximum north–south width of 23 miles (37 km). With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,630 km2), it is the largest island in the contiguous United States.
Suffolk County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its north by Long Island Sound, and to its south by the Atlantic Ocean.
Commack is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The CDP's population was 36,124 at the 2010 census.
Eastport is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, on the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 1,831 at the 2010 census.
Flanders is a hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 4,472 at the 2010 census. It is the location of the Big Duck.
Jamesport is a village in Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. At the 2020 U.S. Census its population was 1,609.
Riverhead is a census-designated place (CDP) roughly corresponding to the hamlet by the same name located in the Town of Riverhead in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The CDP's population was 13,299 at the 2010 census.
Riverhead is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,902. The town rests on the mouth of the Peconic River, from which it derives its name. The smaller hamlet of Riverhead lies within it, and is the town's principal economic center. The town is 166 miles (267 km) southwest of Boston via the Orient Point-New London Ferry, and is 76 miles (123 km) northeast of New York City.
Peconic County is a proposed new county on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York that would secede the five easternmost towns of Suffolk County: East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold, plus the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.
The North Fork is a 30-mile- (48 km) long peninsula in the northeast part of Suffolk County, New York, U.S., roughly parallel with a longer peninsula known as the South Fork, both on the East End of Long Island. Although the peninsula begins east of Riverhead hamlet, the term North Fork can also refer collectively to the towns of Riverhead and Southold in their entirety.
New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a 30.84-mile-long (49.63 km) east–west state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The highway is split into two segments, with the longer and westernmost of the two extending 18.68 miles (30.06 km) from an interchange with Interstate 295 and NY 25 in the Queens Village section of the New York City borough of Queens to an intersection with NY 110 in East Farmingdale in the Suffolk County town of Babylon. The shorter eastern section, located in eastern Suffolk County, extends 12.16 miles (19.57 km) from an interchange with I-495 in Calverton to an intersection with County Route 80 (CR 80) in Hampton Bays.
County Route 94 (CR 94) is a 4.58-mile-long (7.37 km) east–west county route connecting Calverton to Riverhead in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It runs from just north of the Long Island Expressway at exit 71 and a traffic circle at CR 104 in Riverside. The majority of CR 94 overlaps with New York State Route 24 (NY 24), and both CR 94 and NY 24 are signed as north–south roads. Most of CR 94 was constructed in the early 1970s; however, the designation was assigned in 1955 and officially extended to its present length in 1963.
County Route 104 (CR 104) is a 7.45-mile-long (11.99 km) county road in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It runs north from CR 80 in Quogue to New York State Route 24 (NY 24), CR 63 and CR 94 just outside Riverhead. Much of CR 104 runs through the David Allen Sarnoff Pine Barrens Preserve, a major New York State Conservation Area that was once owned by Radio Corporation of America. There is an access point into the preserve along CR 104 south of Riverhead.
Yaphank is a station in the hamlet of Yaphank, New York on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located on Park Street near Suffolk County Road 21. It is also accessible from streets in and around Suffolk County. The distance between Yaphank and the next station, Riverhead, is the longest distance between stations in the LIRR at 14.7 miles (23.7 km). Government buildings are located on the north side of the tracks at the bottom of the Yaphank Avenue overpass.
County Route 105 (CR 105) is a major north–south county road in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It is a four-lane, mostly divided highway that runs from CR 104 to Sound Avenue in Northville, west of the western terminus of CR 48 in Mattituck.
Suffolk County Historical Society Building is a museum and library dedicated to preserving historic artifacts of Suffolk County, New York, as well as other parts of Long Island. It is located at 300 West Main Street as well as Osborn Avenue and Court Street in Riverhead, New York.
The Harry E. Donnell House, also known as The Hill, is a historic 33-room Tudor Revival mansion located on the north shore of Long Island, at 71 Locust Lane, Eatons Neck, Suffolk County, New York. The mansion was designed by New York City architect Harry E. Donnell for his wife, Ruth Robinson Donnell on 200 acres (81 ha) of land given to the couple by Ruth's father George H. Robinson. The mansion was constructed in June, 1902 and completed in January, 1903 by the Randall and Miller Company of Freeport, New York. When completed, the mansion had dual waterfronts. The east lawn extended from the mansion to Duck Island Harbor, and had sweeping views of Long Island Sound, while the south lawn extended to Northport Bay. About 80 acres (32 ha) northwest of the mansion was fashioned into a golf course.
Big Duck Ranch, also known as the Maurer Duck Farm, is a historic ranch located in Flanders, Suffolk County, New York. It operated as a duck ranch and retail store that sold duck products from 1936 to 1984. The principal building on the site is the separately listed Big Duck.
The Miner's Hat, is a novelty building located at 300 East Cameron Ave. in Kellogg, Idaho, that is designed in the shape of a hat, specifically a protective miner's helmet. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Novelty buildings are architectural structures with unusual shapes. Examples include the Big Duck on Long Island, in New York State, and the Teapot Dome Service Station in Zillah, Washington.