Description of Historic Place

Oscar Daigle and Sons Farm is a fifth-generation family farming business that has been operating one of the most beautiful farms in Madawaska County since 1852. It is situated on Principale Street in Baker Brook. The Daigle family home, built in 1898 by Raphaël Daigle, is located on the same site.

Heritage Value

Oscar Daigle and Sons Farm is designated a Local Historic Place for its years of history in the development of farming in the region. The Daigle family is a pioneering Acadian family in Madawaska County. In 1786, Joseph Daigle, one of the first settlers, had the honour of erecting the first cross on Madawaska land, near what is now Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, or Saint-David, Maine. In 1852, Joseph’s son Augustin (1798-1877) purchased 327 acres from Henry (Honoré) Chassé for £100. The farm has remained in the family’s hands ever since. Raphaël Daigle, who owned it in 1868, sold it to his sons Hector, Donat, and Damas in 1906. When Hector died in 1926, he bequeathed his share to his wife Agnès. At some point, she acquired Donat’s and Damas’s shares, and in 1940, offered Oscar the ancestral lands of 327 acres. After Oscar died in 1976, his three sons, Louis-Philippe, Rodolphe, and Jean-Guy took over the land and formed Oscar Daigle and Sons Farm (Ferme Oscar Daigle et fils). In 2006, the farm was transferred within the family for the fifth time. Éric, Rodolphe’s son, and Marcel, Jérôme’s son, took over the reins.

Today, with its 190 purebred Holsteins, Oscar Daigle and Sons Farm is the largest dairy farm in the region. In 2000, after more than 156 years in Madawaska County, the Daigle family was awarded the title of Famille terrienne de l’année (Farm family of the year). The farm also has 2100 acres of woodland and 820 acres of cultivated land.

The family home on the site, built by Raphaël, the farm’s second owner, dates back to 1898. The one-and-a-half storey structure is 8.5 metres deep by 12.2 metres wide (28’ x 40’) and has 12 rooms. The house is an example of the vernacular architecture often found on Maritime farms. It presents typical elements of the style, including the rectangular massing, large gabled roof, and central dormer that breaks the eave.

Source: Madawaska Planning Commission, Baker Brook Register of Historic Places, File 2.3 – "Ferme Oscar Daigle et fils"

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Oscar Daigle and Sons Farm include:
- continuous operation by five generations of the Oscar Daigle family;
- barn housing the first milking parlour in the region;
- 140-stall stable, 35.7 metres x 36.6 metres (117’ x 120’);
- natural ventilation system;
- tractor-driven total mixed rations (TMR) feeding system;
- manure storage pit, 36.6 metres in diameter by 4.9 metres high (120’ x 16’);
- 190 purebred Holstein cattle;
- 2100 acres of woodland;
- 820 acres of cultivated land.

The character-defining elements of the family home include:
- location on the original Daigle family property;
- rectangular 1½-storey massing, 8.5 metres x 12.2 metres (28’ x 40’);
- gable roof with central gable dormer that breaks the eave;
- regular fenestration of rectangular windows;
- 12 rooms;
- roundwood spruce beams.