World's Largest Dutch Windmill - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 46.225 W 122° 30.558
10S E 543216 N 4180456
This Dutch Windmill stands about 75 feet tall. It was constructed in 1902 to irrigate farms around the area. Electric pumps gradually replaced the wind-driven pumps.
Waymark Code: WMFY8F
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2012
Views: 12
This large windmill, known as the
Dutch Windmill, stands in the northwest corner of
Golden Gate Park. It is 75 feet tall and has 102 foot long spars. It could pump 30,000 gallons of water per hour for irrigation purposes. The success of this windmill resulted in the building of a second windmill, known as the
Murphy Windmill, in the southwest corner of the park.
From the History Project of the San Francisco Western Neighborhoods:
The usefulness of this windmill, built in 1902, lasted only a few years until electric pumps eventually replaced the windmills in pumping irrigation water. After that, neglect, storms and the needs of World War II stripped the windmill of its metal spars, leaving it close to ruins in the 1950s.
A restoration effort, led by Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, raised the funds and volunteer labor needed to bring the Dutch windmill back to life in the early 1980s. The tower was rebuilt atop the concrete base with new cedar shingles laid on. The spars went back up to spin occasionally, if not to pump water anymore.
The Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Gardens surround the windmill and together they create one of the most picturesque spots in Golden Gate Park today.
For more info, visit the history of Windmills in California and Golden Gate Park Windmills.