Our Pick
Posted on @rawstates
Oaklawn Farm, the biggest horse breeding operation in the world
1880
Wayne, Illinois
Mark Dunham took over this ground in 1865 and went into Percheron draft horses, sailing to the Perche country in France to buy stock and shipping it back by the boatload. By 1883 he had around 1,300 mares and stallions on 1,700 acres, and the farm was selling more Percherons than any rival in the world. He put up a chateau here in 1880 copied from the Normandy houses he had seen on those buying trips, and it still stands with nine other buildings of that period on ground the Dunham Woods Riding Club uses.
That was 1 of the hidden places.
Location: historic site
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