Although modest in size (200 square feet), the Fairview Farm Goat Museum is the only museum of its kind in the United States. According to Laurie Carlson, co-owner of Fairview Farm, there’s one other goat museum in the world, located in the Australian outback. The Fairview Farm Museum features colorful poster displays and a few artifacts, including 19th century opera gloves fashioned from goat leather and a porcelain doll with hair made from the wool of an Angora goat. The museum is designed to be self-guided and admission is free. Why create a goat museum? For Fairview Farm owners Terry and Laurie Carlson, it made perfect sense. “We wanted to explain the role that goats have played in society for the past 10,000 years,” says Laurie, a former freelance writer with a Ph.D. in history. “Our goal is to elevate the status of goats and goat milk in the U.S and to encourage people to enjoy them.” Laurie and Terry Carlson opened their organic goat dairy and farm stand in 2009. Increasingly, visitors flock to the farm to view the farm’s more than 40 goats, watch the cheese making process, and purchase fresh products, including goat’s milk, drinkable yogurt, cheeses and even ice cream. Now, guests have another reason to visit – to tour the nation’s first and only goat museum. The Fairview Farm Goat Dairy and Museum is located at 2340 SW Fairview Avenue in Dallas, Oregon, and is open year-round, Friday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more, go to www.fairviewdairyfarm.com or call (503) 623-4744.
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