Windmills of Michigan 🌍

Farris Windmill
The Farris Windmill is said to be the oldest windmill in the United States
Windmills like this one were as pretty as they were useful.
This windmill, which was used to grind corn, had many owners. It was named after the Farris family, which ran it for three generations. The wind moved the sails to operate the machinery inside.
Built in the mid 1600s and operated in three locations in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Piece of old blades
This is an original piece of the old blades of our windmill. The blades served De Zwaan from the early 1900's through March of 2000.
This windmill was used as a lookout in the Netherlands during World War II. If you look closely you will be able to find the bullet holes left in the blades from that time.

MICHIGAN HISTORIC SITE

DE ZWAAN WINDMILL

In 1961 Castle Park resort owner Carter P. Brown proposed the idea of creating a public park with "an authentic Dutch windmill." a symbol of Holland's Dutch heritage. To do so. city officlals needed permission from the Dutch government. which protects windmills as national monuments. Willard C. Wichers. midwest director for the Netherlands Information Service, led negotiations with the Dutch over a three-year period. In June 1964 he traveled to the Netherlands to find a suitable mill and finalize arrangements to buy and move it. In Vinkel. Noord Brabant, stood a mill that had been built in 1884 using pieces from older mills. Named De Zwaan (the Swan), it had been damaged during World War II and had deteriorated. Dutch officials allowed its sale but required that Dutch millwright Jan D. Medendorp supervise its relocation and restoration.