First Windmill in English North America
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archway
N 37° 14.875 W 077° 09.017
18S E 309287 N 4124541
The first windmill built by the English colonists in North America was erected at Flowerdew Hundred settlement in 1621.
Waymark Code: WM7Z03
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2009
Views: 2
The settlement at Flowerdew Hundred dates back to 1619 and is located on the south bank of the James River in Prince George County. In 1621, the residents built their first windmill in North America, an English post type. Flowerdew Hundred survived the Anglo-Powhatan war of 1622, which destroyed Henricus further upriver and sent colonists fleeing back to to Jamestown.
Flowerdew Hundred plantation is now a private residence and is not open to the public. The original windmill was destroyed, but a replica was built in the 1970s. This Virginia historical marker, located four miles south, reads as follows:
Flowerdew Hundred (K-214)
Four miles north of here, Governor Sir George Yeardley established Flowerdew Hundred settlement by 1619. In 1621 a windmill was built there, the first one recorded in English North America. In response to English expansion into Powhatan lands, such as occurred at Flowerdew and elsewhere, paramount chief Opechancanough planned a coordinated assault on English settlements. The settlement survived the attack on 22 Mar. 1622 and was inhabited through the 18th century. On 14-16 June 1864, U.S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac landed there and marched toward Petersburg to attack it.
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