816-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 14, 1993
SUSSEX. NJ. Morning at
Space Farms begins like any typi
cal farm day cattle arc stirring,
hay fields are waiting to be cut, and
chickens mill about.
In the distance, a fox eyes the
fowl with interest. The Spaces
arise like- any typical farm
family ... regretting the early
hour, but fiercely proud of the
lifestyle that just doesn’t allow
eight hours sleep.
There is work to be done. A
1936 New Idea hayloader awaits
restoration, a pair of Kodiak beats
need to be moved, and a baby
jaguar is scheduled to visit the vet.
And don’t forget, somebody has to
feed that fox.
If this sounds rather unlike the
typical.family farm, that’s just the
beginning. At Space Farms, the
cattle herd is comprised of Texas
Longhorn, Zebu, Yak, and Bison.
The hay is being cut for mouflon
and aoudad, and the egg produc
tion is mainly a hobby.
While it is indeed a 500-acre
working farm with close to 1,000
animals. Space Farms depends
mostly on tourists for its income.
People know the complex as
“Space Farms Zoo & Museum,”
with little resemblance to the typi
cal family farm. The story of Space
Farms evolution from working
dairy farm to tourist attraction is an
unusual one, especially consider
ing that most northern New Jersey
dairy operations have been sold for
development
Interestingly enough. Space
Farms started not as a farm but as a
general store, repair garage, and
zoo. Ralph and Elizabeth Space,
together with their young children
Loretta, Edna and Fred, bought a
two-room bungalow in the village
of Beemerville in 1927 with little
money and plenty of ambition. Eli
zabeth. now in her 90th year and
referred to by all as “Grandma.”
opened the general store in a shack
next to the family home just as the
Great Depression began.
“Times were hard,” said Eli
zabeth. “I hoped I’d sell something
in the morning so I could pay the
bread man when he delivered in
the afternoon.”
To help support his young fami
ly, Ralph Space contracted with
the state to trap predatory animals
on local farms. Rather than destroy
the animals, he kept them behind
Life in a rural farm community is preserved for visitors of
all ages at Space Farms.
New Farm
the store in cages, waiting for wint
er months when their pelts would
be prime and more valuable. Word
spread that you could see a number
of wild animals at the small store.
Soon, people were making the dip
to buy a few items and wander
among the animal cages.
Elizabeth recounts how the
menagerie became a zoo: “A fel
low suggested that he charge
admission, so Ralph took off his
hat and the fellow put a dime in.”
It was also during the 1930’s
that the “museum" at Space Farms
had its origins. As some families in
the rural community fell on hard
times, they began to charge items
at Elizabeth’s store, leaving anti
que rifles, old tools, and other trea
sures as collateral. The items were
placed on the wall of the store, and
became almost as big a curiosity as
the wild animals. As better times
returned and accounts were
settled, many people opted to leave
their antiques at the store, enjoying
the idea that others could see and
appreciate them.
In the meantime, the family
began its fanning business with a
foray into raising silver foxes.
While not typical, the venture was
just like any other family farm in
one respect: “All I can remember is
work, work, work,” said Loretta
Space, “and it didn’t hurt us a bit.”
Silver fox gave way to mink as
styles changed, and the fur farm
remained a sizeable operation until
the 1980 s.
Among the jobs Loretta and her
siblings had was picking up dead
dairy cows at neighboring, farms,
which were processed into fox and
mink feed. In 1939, one such call
came from die adjacent NJ. State
Experimental Agricultural Station,
which asked voung Fred Space to
pick up two calves. These calves,
however, were quite healthy
and the Space family dairy busi
ness began.
Having been raised on a nearby
farm, the move delighted Eli
zabeth Space. The family mat
riarch, who was by then running a
sizeable grocery store, fondly
recalls buying the large farm
across the street: “I loved farming.
Ralph was never really interested
in it... he preferred mechanical
things. But I was happy to have a
real farm again.”
Ultimately, the dairy operation
Emerges In Sussex
Longhorns and other breeds have replaced the dairy herd at Space Farms. Unlike
their ancestors, these head won’t be making an Amarillo to Kansas City run any time
500 n....
grew to more than 100 head. More
than 300 acres of com, alfalfa, and
hay were under cultivation, and the
mink farm produced more than
20,000 mink annually. As the fam
ily’s prosperity increased, Ralph
began collecting more and more
antiques, and son Fred’s interest in
wild and unusual animals
increased. So as the farm expanded
through the 19405, the Space zoo
and museum grew as well.
By the early 19605, Beemerville
was a bustling farming communi
ty. A few thousand annual visitors
supported .the zoo and the local
economy. The Spaces had donated
land and helped to establish a vol
unteer fire department, and the
grocery store -evolved into a
restaurant, gift shop, and full
fledged museum. Elizabeth Space
became “Grandma” many times
over, and the farm was in its
heyday.
But like everyone else in the
business, changing times impacted
the Spaces. In 1972, unable to find
workers, the family sold off the
dairy herd. The same problem
eventually took its toll on the fur
farm.
While the dairy and fur fanning
were winding down, the zoo and
museum continued to grow. Ralph
continued to collect anything and
everything, and Fred increased the
variety and size of the zoo. A
brown bear, named Goliath by the
family, arrived at Space Farms as a
cub in 1967 and grew to be the
largest bear in the world. Large
African cats were added, and the
number of visitors increased every
year.
In the 1980 s, when the neigh
boring State Agricultural Station
was closed, the family arranged to
exchange land adjacent to a State
Park for the Ag Station property
and buildings. The facility became
the new home for Ralph’s bur
geoning collection, which by then
totalled more than 50,000 pieces.
He continued to collect antiques
until his death in 1986 at age 84.
Ultimately, the museum grew to
fill 11 buildings. Three buildings
arc exclusively dedicated to farm
ing equipment from the past 200
years, including dozens of tractors,
harvesting equipment, hand tools,
com buskers, and the like. Many
rare and unusual items are on dis
play, including a dog-powered.
Ralph Space, left, and son Fred demonstrate an 1898
foot-powered milking machine, at the opening of Space
Farms’ farming museums in 1979.
treadmill-operated chum. The
balance of the museum contains
hundreds of antique cars, car
riages, wagons, and thousands of
smaller items that present an inter
esting history of life in a small
farming village.
The museum offers other
insights on farm life. Fred said,
“When we were kids it was always
a great thrill to find arrowheads
and other Indian artifacts as we
worked the Helds ... after -fifty
years of farming, you find quite a
few.” So many, in fact, that the
American Indian exhibits fill
dozens of display cases.
For the time being, Space Farms
remains a working farm, with
close to 400 acres under cultiva
tion for animal feed. The Space
Farms the public sees, however, is
a zoo and museum. “Our goal is to
present the public with a better
understanding of life in a rural
community during simpler times,
and a better understanding of man
kind’s relationship with nature,”
said Fred. The current family scion
said that “but really, we’re still
farmers.”
Grandma Space remembers a
time when ho- father was dead set
against having a modem silo, and
she has witnessed her own family
farm evolve from small business to
dairy farm to a tourist attraction
that draws nearly 100,000 visitors
yearly. “It’s so different now, I
can’t believe it.”
Fortunately, the history of that
way of life has been preserved.
Granted, the traditional aspects of
farm life have been relegated to a
museum. But with 100 different
species totalling close to 1,000
animals—needing daily care, the
work ethic and lifestyle are very
much alive.
Space Farms Zoo & Museum is
located in Sussex, New Jersey, and
is an interesting and educational
day-trip destination. For more
information, contact Space Farms
at (201) 875-5800.