RON HENGGELER

December 12, 2008
The 1905 Murphy Windmill's cap is back!

A week before Thanksgiving, containers from the Netherlands began to arrive in San Francisco.
Inside the containers were the all the intricate parts of the cap that will eventually crown the Murphy’s Windmill at the southwestern tip of Golden Gate Park.
Originally built in 1905, Murphy’s Windmill is presently being fully restored so that it will once again pump water to help irrigate Golden Gate Park. When the project is complete, the windmill will be the largest of its type in the world. It will tower over ten stories tall and have an immense sail span. Three master craftsmen from the Netherlands, Thomas, Gerald, and Patrick have been in San Francisco the past several weeks reassembling the cap. Their job is nearly complete. They plan to return home to the Netherlands on Monday.
Here are some of my photos of the cap’s reassembly that were taken this week.

To view some of my photos of the restoration from earlier this year, click here.
http://www.ronhenggeler.com/Windmill/windmill_index1.htm

There are two windmills on the western edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The northern Dutch Windmill was completed in 1903, and the southern Murphy Windmill was built in 1905. The Dutch Mill was placed on the San Francisco Designated Landmark list December 6, 1981, and the Murphy Mill was added July 2, 2000.

In the 1870s and 1880s, Golden Gate Park was planted on sand dunes and required substantial irrigation. In 1902, the Park Commission authorized the construction of two windmills to pump groundwater for park irrigation rather than purchasing water at exorbitant costs from the Spring Valley Water Company. The Dutch Mill was completed one year later and pumped 30,000 gallons per hour. Five years later, the Murphy Mill pumped an additional 40,000 gallons per hour to the park.

 

Newsletters Index: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006

Photography Index  | Graphics Index | History Index

Home | Gallery | About Me | Links | Contact

© 2015 All rights reserved
The images are not in the public domain. They are the sole property of the artist and may not be reproduced on the Internet, sold, altered, enhanced, modified by artificial, digital or computer imaging or in any other form without the express written permission of the artist. Non-watermarked copies of photographs on this site can be purchased by contacting Ron.