This “Dutch Windmill” is just off the beach in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, surrounded by magnificent flower beds.
What’s the story here? Well, of course, there is one.
When Golden Gate Park was first proposed, it was almost all sand dunes without trees or much substantive vegetation.
Transforming the dunes into a lush green park was done with lots of ground up and rotted Redwood bark and scrap from nearby timber mills, as well as generous amounts of horse manure. What was really needed as well, was lots of fresh water.
At the time, there was only one water company in San Francisco — the Spring Valley Water Company.
When Golden Gate Park was first constructed, the city struck a deal with Spring Valley Water (from whom some land was bought) to provide free water to the park. But the water company welched on the deal, and started charging ridiculous prices while threatening to turn the water off if the city didn’t pay.
By 1890, San Francisco was forking over $1,000 a month for water for the park — the equivalent of $35,000 a month in current dollars.
Park officials needed an alternative, and they found one when they discovered underground freshwater aquifers beneath sections of the park. A windmill, similar to ones in Holland was proposed, with the idea that ocean winds would turn the sails.
The windmill was buit in 1901, and it was a massive success, pumped huge amounts of water —15-20,000 gallons an hour — into the park, filling reservoirs and ponds, and even supplying water to newly expanding neighborhoods for a fee.
All the costs of the windmill were recovered in its first year of operation.
As for the Spring Valley Water Company, the city turned against them in 1907 when all the fire hydrants failed during the San Francisco Earthquake. Don’t feel too sorry for them though; the company was bought out by the city in 1930, for a price of $45 million — the equivalemt of $848 million in today’s dollars
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