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1of27UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1930: Dutch Windmill, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California Postcard. ca. 1915-1925, Dutch Windmill, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California Postcard (Photo by LCDM Universal History Archive/Getty Images)UniversalImagesGroupShow MoreShow Less2of27Show MoreShow Less3of27In this May 30, 1936 file photo, the historic landmark Murphy Windmill stands in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The windmill's 68-ton copper dome was placed back on top of the structure on Monday, Sept. 12, 2011, after undergoing nearly a decade of restoration.APShow MoreShow Less4of27Negative pack dated October 26, 1948 Photos show a new boom being delivered to one of the windmills in Golden Gate Park. No photographer information Great Acme Beer billboard sign in the backgroundThe ChronicleShow MoreShow Less5of27Negative pack dated November 9, 1948 Photos show a new boom being installed on the South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park.Art Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less6of27Negative pack dated November 9, 1948 Photos show a new boom being installed on the South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park.Art Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less7of27Negative pack dated November 9, 1948 Photos show a new boom being installed on the South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park.Art Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less8of27Negative pack dated 1952 Aerial view of South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park. Name written on negative says "Pete"Art Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less9of27Negative pack dated April 12 1966, Photos of the South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. all of the vanes and the boom or spar are lying on the groundArt Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less10of27Negative pack dated April 10 1979 Photos of the North Windmill, also known as the Dutch Windmill and the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restored约翰层/ChronicleShow MoreShow Less11of27Negative pack dated April 12 1966, Photos of the South Windmill, also known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. all of the vanes and the boom or spar are lying on the groundArt Frisch/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less12of27Negative pack dated April 10 1979 Photos of the North Windmill, also known as the Dutch Windmill and the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restored An empty lot where Playland had been is also in the picture约翰层/ChronicleShow MoreShow Less13of27Negative pack dated April 10 1979 Photos of the North Windmill, also known as the Dutch Windmill and the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restoredGary Fong/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less14of27Negative pack dated September 8 1975 Photos of the North Windmill, also known as the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restoredGary Fong/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less15of27Negative pack dated January 21 1981 Photos of the south windmill, known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restored by Sea BeesSteve Ringman/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less16of27Negative pack dated January 21 1981 Photos of the south windmill, known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restored by Sea BeesSteve Ringman/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less17of27Negative pack dated January 21 1981 Photos of the south windmill, known as the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restored by Sea BeesSteve Ringman/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less18of27The Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park.John O'Hara/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less19of27Workers direct the grain as it lifts the 64 ton copper windmill dome and place it on top of the Samuel Murphy Windmill, Monday September 12, 2011 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. The windmill continued to work until 1935 when it was permanently shut down. The structure has been in severe state of disrepair to the extent that the City was in danger of losing it as a cultural resource. In 2000 a nonprofit organization known as The Campaign to Save the Golden Gate Park Windmills was launched in partnership with the city of San Francisco. Though that foundation donations the windmill is being put back together.Lacy Atkins/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less20of27Workers direct the grain as it lifts the 64 ton copper windmill dome and place it on top of the Samuel Murphy Windmill, Monday September 12, 2011 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. The windmill continued to work until 1935 when it was permanently shut down. The structure has been in severe state of disrepair to the extent that the City was in danger of losing it as a cultural resource. In 2000 a nonprofit organization known as The Campaign to Save the Golden Gate Park Windmills was launched in partnership with the city of San Francisco. Though that foundation donations the windmill is being put back together.Lacy Atkins/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less21of27San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, left, Consul General for the Netherlands in San Francisco, Bart van Bolhuis, Hendrika Neys, Mariska Henneberque, and Natasha Yankoffski, clap as the 64 ton copper windmill dome is lifted and placed on top of the Samuel Murphy Windmill, Monday September 12, 2011 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif.Lacy Atkins/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less22of27Workers place a 64-ton dome on the historic landmark Murphy windmill during its repair in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Monday, Sept. 12, 2011. The windmill was constructed in 1905 and is one of the largest windmills in the world. It originally served to irrigate the park.The dome was repaired in Holland. The flags below the American and San Francisco flags are the Dutch and Irish flags.Paul Sakuma/APShow MoreShow Less23of27Celebrating Queen's Day near the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California , on Saturday, April 28th, 2012.Jill Schneider/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less24of27The Murphy windmill is seen at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. Renovation was recently completed on the windmill at the southwest corner of the park, but work still need to be done on the Dutch windmill to the north.Paul Chinn/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less25of27Flowers bloom in the Queen Wilhelmina Garden in front of the Dutch windmill at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. More funding is needed to renovate the windmill located on the northwest corner of the park.Paul Chinn/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less26of27Flowers bloom in the Queen Wilhelmina Garden in front of the Dutch windmill at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. More funding is needed to renovate the windmill located on the northwest corner of the park.Paul Chinn/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less27of27The Murphy windmill is seen at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. Renovation was recently completed on the windmill at the southwest corner of the park, but work still need to be done on the Dutch windmill to the north.Paul Chinn/The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
Having been born in Holland, it was only a matter of time before I checked to see what images we have of the lovely windmills of Golden Gate Park. I’m old enough to remember their many years of disrepair and neglect, but I had no idea how much neglect, and how fortunate we are to have them at all. They are also a lot older than I would have imagined
Park commissioners, led by Reuben Lloyd, determined that a consistent, inexpensive source of water was needed for Golden Gate Park. The north windmill, known as the “Dutch Windmill,” was completed in 1903. Within a week, it was pumping 30,000 gallons of water a day to irrigate the western end of the park. The “Murphy Windmill” was built with a sizable donation from Samuel G. Murphy, president of First National Bank. Murphy is said to have called it a “partial payment for the pleasures derived during many years’ visits to the park.” Located in the southwest corner of the park, it was said to be the largest windmill in the world.
Negative pack dated April 10 1979 Photos of the North Windmill, also known as the Dutch Windmill and the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park, in disrepair .. to be restoredGary Fong/The Chronicle
By the 1930s, the windmills became more decorative than functional as electric pumps were used to procure water for irrigation. The inner workings were stripped out for the war effort in 1940, and by 1948, some serious work had to be done to the Murphy Windmill. The repairs included replacing the spar or main beam, which meant transporting a 114-foot beam from Eighth and Brannan by truck via Alemany Boulevard to the Great Highway. I found a negative pack covering this trip, and the photos are great.
By the 1960s, the windmills were in serious disrepair. Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, the daughter of former Mayor Angelo Rossi, spearheaded the Windmill Restoration Committee campaign. By the time she attended a ceremony on Nov. 14, 1981, that honored the restoration of the windmills, Crabtree had spoken to more than 400 civic groups and raised more than $200,000. Officers and enlisted men of the Naval Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees) from Treasure Island had volunteered many hours to repair and reinstall the axles and gears in the windmills.
The windmills have undergone more repairs and renovations over the years. The most recent upgrade was the restoration of the 64-ton copper dome on the Murphy Windmill. The work was done by Verbij Hoogmade, a Dutch company that has been designing and building windmills since 1868. The dome was shipped to San Francisco and installed in 2011.
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Bill Van Niekerken is the library director of The San Francisco Chronicle, where he has worked since 1985. In his weekly column, From the Archive, he explores the depths of The Chronicle's vast photography archive in search of interesting historical tales related to the city by the bay.
About 100 people blocked traffic at sunrise Saturday to capture California Henge — the moment the sun lines up with California Street above the Bay Bridge.
