In this view of Deering Oaks, the duck house is accompanied by the neighboring slaughterhouse of the Pork Packing Company, with the smokestacks of Casco Tanning Works visible behind on the right.

In February of 1887, City engineer William Goodwin built a small island in Mill Pond as the Park Commissioners requested. During the previous summer, the Legrow Brothers lumber company delighted the public by exhibiting a Queen Anne cottage in miniature on a platform carriage during Portland's centennial July 4th parade. The commissioners arranged for the little house to be installed on the island as a fanciful home for newly purchased ducks and geese, expressing hope that the charming scene would mitigate the Park's reeking industrial backdrop.