San Francisco, California | Retro-Tech
Two enormous windmills overlook Ocean Beach at the far West end of Golden Gate park. Once mighty water-pumping machines designed to provide water for the fledgling Golden Gate Park at the beginning of the last century, they have fallen into disrepair and been resurrected, and the process is happening once more.
Fresh water was essential to transform the sand dunes of the Sunset district into the lush man-made parkland of Golden Gate Park. Inland, ground water was insufficent, so an idea was hatched to harness the coastal winds to pump deep water closer to the ocean shore.
Their functional life was short lived. Built between 1902 and 1908, both windmills pumped fresh well water from depths of 200 feet until 1913, when they were replaced by electric pumps which pumped more water more quickly. Almost immediately, they began to decline.
The North windmill, known as the Dutch Windmill, was the first, built in 1902 with oversized 102 foot sails. Originally, the water it pumped filled the artificial park ponds of Lloyd Lake, Metson Lake, and Spreckels Lake. Primarily due to efforts over twenty years by Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, daughter of a San Francisco mayor, it was renovated in the 1980’s and the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden was planted around it. The restoration was primarily cosmetic, however, and until more recent renovations the internal machinery had not been functional.
The South windmill, known as the Murphy Windmill, was the largest windmill of its kind in the world, with gigantic 114 foot sails, each cut from a single log. These sails turned clockwise, unlike traditional Dutch windmills which turn counter-clockwise (early, terrifying, film footage shows repair men riding the sails as they make their circuit). It was built to supplement the Dutch windmill between 1905 and 1908, funded by $20,000 from a local banker named Samuel Murphy, and donations of lumber and copper roofing from other local businesses. It is currently in the process o a ground-up restoration, with its inner working being re-fitted in the Netherlands by a centuries old windmill designer.
The Dutch Windmill started working again, on a trial basis, in July 2009. There are plans for further restoration in 2010.
In September 2009 the restored cap of the Murphy Windmill returned from the Netherlands, and the final stages of its restoration is now underway.
