Windmills and Water Mills of Long Island

Windmills and water mills are truly the wonders of an

earlier era, the wooden technology of yesteryear.

To us, they may be graceful and charming relics. To the

colonists, however, they were a vital necessity. Colonial

craftsmen constructed them to mill grain, saw wood, pump

water, and do various other jobs. Furthermore, the mill was

the gathering place for the villagers. While they waited for

their grain to be milled, the villagers exchanged news and

gossip and stories. Millers were well respected not only for

their mill’s output but also for their own weather forecasts,

knowledge of engines and machines, and, of course,

up-to-date news.

Long Island is an ideal place for catching the steady wind

from the ocean and bays: 125 miles long, narrow–only

20 miles across at its widest, and relatively flat. Thus, many

windmills were built here and still exist here, particularly

at the island’s east end. As a matter of fact, the south fork

of eastern Long Island contains the greatest number of

surviving windmills in the United States. Before 1700,

Long Island also had many water mills, some of them

powered by the tide.