San Francisco's 1900s Windmills: Why They're Still Standing Today

Have you ever wondered why we have Dutch-style windmills in Golden Gate Park? In the late 1800s, Golden Gate Park was created on what used to be sand dunes and needed a ton of water for irrigation of all the new plants. The city had an arrangement with the Spring Valley Water Company to supply that water, but eventually it became too expensive, so they had to look for other options. That's why in the early 1900s, the park commission had two windmills, now known as the Dutch and the Murphy Windmill, constructed to pump water from the ground to irrigate the land. Eventually, the windmills became obsolete with the advent of electric pumps, pumps, and they fell into disrepair until the 1980s when they were restored by Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, who was the daughter of a former San Francisco mayor. Today they're nationally registered historic landmarks and surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscaping in all of San Francisco, including the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden at the base of the Dutch. Share this with someone you'd visit the windmills with and follow me for more San Francisco history.