Campaign to Save the Golden Gate Park Windmills

1902
North Windmill
Completed

1905
South Windmill
Completed

1980
Windmill First
Restoration

2000
Campaign to
Save Windmills

Golden Gate Park, 1865

1870
On April 4, an “Act to Provide for the Improvement of Public Parks in the City of San Francisco” created Golden Gate Park.

1901
John McLaren, together with Park Commissioners Adolph B. Spreckles and Reuben Lloyd, convinced the Recreation and Park Commission to build a windmill 300 yards from the ocean. This windmill could take advantage of the prevailing winds to pump water for the park”s irrigation system.

1902
The Dutch (North) Windmill was completed at a cost of $25,000. Alpheus Bull Jr., a prominent San Franciscan, designed the North Windmill. The Fulton Engineering Company received the bid for the ironwork, and Pope and Talbot Lumber Company donated sails (“spars”) of Oregon pine.

1903
A cottage was built for the caretaker and his wife. In addition to his regular duties of maintaining the mill and positioning it into the wind, the caretaker planted a garden to raise vegetables for the animals in Golden Gate Park’s Menagerie.

1905
Mayor Eugene Schmitz praised the vision of Spreckels and Lloyd for the success of the North Windmill. Samuel Murphy, Vice President of Hibernia Bank, financed the second windmill with a $20,000 donation. The South Windmill became the largest windmill of its kind in the world. Louis Sloss donated the copper for the dome, while George Zavier Wendling of the Wendling Cross Lumber Company donated all of the timber.

1913
Motorized pumps were installed to augment the production of the wind-driven system. With the windmills no longer performing a primary function, their maintenance was neglected and they eventually ceased to operate.

1964
Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, daughter of Mayor Angelo Rossi, initiated a campaign to save the North Windmill.

1980
As a result of Crabtree’s campaign, the North Windmill received cosmetic repairs, and the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden was created on the adjacent grounds.

1993
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department with San Francisco Beautiful, arranged for Lucas Verbij, a Dutch windmill design and construction expert, to carry out an extensive study of the South Windmill. Verbij concluded that the windmill required immediate attention.

1998
A citizen group, spearheaded by Friends of Recreation and Parks, raised $8 million to initiate renovation of the west-end of Golden Gate Park. Improvements included restoration of the Beach Chalet restaurant and extensive landscaping enhancements including the park’s soccer fields.

2000
In June, Friends of Recreation and Parks held a reception at the South Windmill and presented plans for a Community Center Pavilion. On behalf of the City of San Francisco, Supervisor Mark Leno announced that the City would commit $500,000 towards the restoration process. At this meeting, Don Propstra, a San Francisco businessman and philanthropist, offered to take the leadership for a campaign to save the Golden Gate Park windmills.

On August 1, the first Steering Committee meeting was held, and the Campaign to Save the Golden Gate Park Windmills was born.

Golden Gate Park, 2001

2001
The Recreation and Park Commission vote in support of the plan, presented by the Campaign to Save the Golden Gate Park Windmills.

2002
The cap of the South Windmill is shipped to the Netherlands for restoration. Please click here to view photos of the restoration in progress.

2006
Estimated completion date to have the windmills and surrounding grounds restored, revitalized and fully accessible for educational and recreational purposes — ready to receive visitors and take their place as treasured icons of San Francisco history. The windmill’s dome, pump mechanism, fantail and sails are currently being restored by Verbij Hoogmade Windmill Builders and Restorers in the Netherlands and will be shipped back to San Francisco for reassembly once the windmill tower is rebuilt.

Timeline Showing Milestones from 2005 through September 2006

To volunteer, donate to the campaign or for general information, please call Marchpartners at (415) 668-0763 or email the campaign at marchpartners@hotmail.com.