Beebe Windmill

Beebe Windmill is a smock mill which is located at the southeast corner of Ocean Road and Hildreth Avenue in Bridgehampton, New York.[2]

Beebe Windmill
Beebe windmill
Origin
Mill name	Beebe mill
Mill location	Bridgehampton, New York
Coordinates	40.9343°N 72.3006°W / 40.9343; -72.3006
Year built	1820
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	Smock mill
Storeys	Four-story smock
Base storeys	A few courses of brick
Smock sides	Eight-sided smock
No. of sails	Four sails
Type of sails	Common sails
Windshaft	Wood
Winding	Fantail
Fantail blades	Eight blades
Auxiliary power	Steam engine
No. of pairs of millstones	Two pairs
Other information	Named after Lester Beebe, for whom it was built.
Beebe Windmill U.S. National Register of Historic Places Architect Tabor, Pardon T. MPS Long Island Wind and Tide Mills TR NRHP reference No. 78001918[1] Added to NRHP December 27, 1978

History

Beebe windmill was built in 1820 at Sag Harbor for Lester Beebe. After his death, it was bought by Rose Gelston who had it moved to Bridgehampton where it worked for more than 50 years. In 1882, it was bought by James Sanford and moved to a site south of the railroad. Later, a steam engine was installed to provide power when the wind was not blowing. In 1888, the mill was repaired by millwright Nathaniel Dominy of Long Island. It was moved to a site north of the railroad in 1889. It was operated here until 1915 by the Bridgehampton Milling Company. In that year, it was bought by John E. Berwind and moved to his summer estate, Minden.[3][4]

The machinery of Beebe windmill, in HAER drawing

It is described in a 1977 Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) description as "one of the first Long Island windmills to have a fly, regulators, and cast iron gears" and is the only one with its original versions of those. It is also the only Long Island windmill to have a "decorative" design. With these features it is "the only surviving Long Island windmill which compares to English windmills of the same period."[5] The windmill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]

Description

Beebe windmill is a four-story smock mill with an ogee cap winded by a fantail. Four Common sails are carried on a wooden windshaft, as is the wooden clasp arm brake wheel. This drives a cast iron wallower carried at the top of the upright shaft. At its lower end the cast iron great spur wheel drives two pairs of overdrift millstones.

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. "Division for Historic Preservation, New York State Department of Parks and Recreation, Building/Structure Inventory: Beebe Windmill". September 1978. Retrieved 2009-06-06. and Accompanying one photo from 1977
3. Pulling, Anne Frances, and Leeds, Gerald A (1999). Windmills and Water Mills of Long Island. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. pp. 54–56. ISBN 0-7385-0288-X.
4. Raymond W. Smith (September 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Beebe Windmill". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying photo".
5. Hefner, Robert J.; Paxton, Gregory B. (August 1977). "Beebe Windmill" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2014.

Beebe smock mill in Bridgehampton

External links

Media related to Beebe Windmill (Bridgehampton, New York) at Wikimedia Commons

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-67, "Beebe Windmill, Hildreath Lane & Ocean Avenue (moved several times, Bridgehampton, Suffolk County, NY", 11 photos, 6 measured drawings, 19 data pages, 1 photo caption page