Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

 The North Windmill

 Queen Wilhelmina Park

The Murphy Windmill Today

There are two windmills in Golden Gate Park that served a valuable purpose when they were built.  When the park was first being developed the focus was on planting trees  to stabilize the ocean dunes that covered three-quarters of the park’s area. The two windmills together pumped over 1 1/2 million gallons of water a day to help with this stabilization.

In 1902, the park saw the completion of the Dutch windmill, or the North windmill. The design for the attraction came from Alpheus Bull, Jr.  a well-known San Francisco resident, and cost $25,000 to build.  The Fulton Engineering Company received the bid for the ironwork, and Pope and Talbot Lumber Company donated sails (“spars”) of Oregon pine. 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.

The North Windmill was such a success that Mayor Eugene Schmitz encouraged the building of a second windmill, which was largely funded by the vice president of Hibernia Bank, Samuel Murphy. Eventually, the South Windmill or Murphy windmill, was constructed and it became the largest of its kind in the world. The dome was made from copper donated by Louis Sloss , while George Zavier Wendling of the local lumber company Wendling Cross Lumber, contributed the timber.

The windmills were eventually mechanized, and then not needed at all, so they fell into disrepair.  In 1964, Eleanor Rossi Crabtree, daughter of Mayor Angelo Rossi initiated a campaign to restore the North windmill.  Due to the success of the restoration Queen Wilhelmina Park, a tulip garden that was a gift of the Queen of the Netherlands, was created adjacent to it.

In 2000 the City of San Francisco committed $500,000 to ithe Murphy windmill restoration.

Ron Henggeler was charged with documenting the Murphy windmill restoration, you can see the progress at his website.