{"id":53389,"date":"2013-04-20T05:58:19","date_gmt":"2013-04-20T11:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=53389"},"modified":"2020-03-17T13:41:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T17:41:27","slug":"windmills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=53389","title":{"rendered":"The Old Dutch Windmill, San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw this windmill on two separate occasions: once on a drive to Cliff House and once during an extremely windy day from atop the Sutro Parapet; and, I wondered why it wasn’t moving. It had what it needed: plenty of wind… but as gust, after gust moved dunes and pushed me back and forth, this metal beast sat unmoving amidst trees as if frozen in time.<\/p>\n

Both times it looked oddly out of place… like a giant misfit plopped into Golden Gate Park. I’d later find out that the park wouldn’t exist if not for this hulking beast and its compadre: Murphy’s Windmill. <\/p>\n

Seems in the late-1800s the city had the grand idea of transforming the barren sandy dunes of the West into a lush green parkland. But it was economically not feasible. To cart fresh water out to the site cost an eye-popping $1050 per month [link removed]. Instead, the city decided to build a windmill to draw underground water up to the gardens and in 1903 the beast began to turn. Murphy’s Windmill arrived in 1908.<\/p>\n

It has a steampunk feel to it (though technically it’s wind-powered and not steam-powered)… and Steampunk makes me giddy… so when I saw the windmill for the second time, I headed over in hopes of finding an adventure. I didn’t find one… just tulips, blue sky, and a mechanical beast.<\/p>\n

The gallery contains photos of both the Dutch and Murphy’s windmills.<\/em><\/p>\n