Gordon Fox Ranch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Gordon Fox Ranch
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The historic ranch house
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | 860 W. Broadway (US 2), Lincoln, Maine |
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| Area | 9.3 acres (3.8 ha) |
| Built | 1924 |
| NRHP reference No. | 15000769 |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 2015 |
The Gordon Fox Ranch is a unique old property in Lincoln, Maine. It was once a busy farm where people raised silver foxes for their beautiful fur. This ranch operated from about 1924 to 1940. It's one of the best examples left of the many fox farms started by brothers Frank and Fred Gordon in Lincoln. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, which means it's an important historical site.
What Was the Gordon Fox Ranch?
The Gordon Fox Ranch is located in a quiet, rural part of western Lincoln. The property covers more than 9 acres (about 3.6 hectares). Most of this land is still covered in trees. Only a small part, less than 2 acres, was ever cleared for the farm.
Buildings at the Ranch
A few buildings stand on the property, some old and some new. There's a garage from the 1950s and a house built in 2006. Behind the garage, you can see a tall, three-story wooden tower. This tower has sides that slope inwards on the first two levels. The top level has straight walls and windows on each side.
Across the driveway from the garage is the original ranch house. This house was built in 1924. It's a 1-1/2 story wooden building with a special "saltbox" roof shape. This type of roof was common for the houses on the Gordon brothers' fox farms.
The property also has a nearly complete dirt wall, called a berm. This berm surrounded the area where the foxes were kept. It would have been fenced off to create a safe space for the animals. Behind the houses, there's a small wooden building that used to be the ranch office. It was once connected to the observation tower but was moved for repairs. This office building is thought to be the only one left from these old fox farms.
Why Were Silver Foxes Farmed?
Silver fox fur was very valuable for a long time. It was worth much more than beaver fur. People learned how to raise silver foxes in captivity in the 1890s on Prince Edward Island. After that, fox farming started to spread.
In the 1920s, two brothers, Fred and Frank Gordon, bought many pieces of land. They were from Lincoln and Bangor. They set up fox farms in Lincoln and other parts of northern New England. They had a standard plan for all their farms.
Between 1924 and 1926, the Gordon brothers built at least ten fox farms in Lincoln. Each farm had a small house for the caretaker. There was also a fenced area for the foxes. An observation tower was used to watch how the animals behaved. The Gordon brothers' business went bankrupt in 1926. However, this particular farm was likely used for fox farming until about 1940 by different owners.
