Historic Hamptons windmill slated for $1.5M restoration starting this spring

A small fence surrounds four structures on the south side of the Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach that are cocooned in shrink wrap like boats in winter storage.

About 10 feet tall and propped on steel beams, the four pieces of Gov. John Adams Dix Windmill have been there since July 2022, when the windmill was sliced into quarters and moved from nearby.

This spring, work will begin to make the 1800s structure operational again, providing a glimpse into a bygone era in a village once known as “Windmill Town.”

Last week Southampton Town officials awarded a $1.5 million contract to an Islip Terrace company for the yearlong restoration project. Westhampton Beach village officials approved a similar measure at an earlier meeting since the municipalities jointly own the windmill — a deal recently completed.

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore said the town had to be added as an owner so money from its Community Preservation Fund could pay for the project. Typically used to preserve open space, Southampton generates money for the fund through a 2% tax on most real estate transactions.

“It’s going to be quite a landmark for the village,” said Larry Jones, an architectural preservation consultant and village resident who discovered the windmill’s history and is helping to spearhead its restoration.

Jones said the octagonal windmill will be restored to pump water as it did when first constructed on the estate of John Adams Dix, who served as New York governor from 1873 to 1874. 

A foundation for the structure will be poured about 200 yards from where the pieces are stored now to create a new permanent location near the corner of Main Street and Potunk Lane, Jones said.

Moore said she was Westhampton Beach mayor when Jones approached officials a few years ago and explained how a house had been sold and the new homeowners planned to demolish it to build a new one. The windmill on the property was likely to be lost, Jones told them.

Moore said the homeowners agreed to donate the windmill to the village, which a town board then designated as a historic landmark — another requirement for use of Community Preservation Fund money on the project.

In March 2022, village officials along with the Westhampton Beach Historical Society announced plans to save the windmill. But to relocate it required private fundraising, officials said.

A GoFundMe campaign generated about $26,000 to cover the cost for moving the windmill, Jones said.

Ralph Urban, the village mayor, said the 41-foot windmill was cut horizontally into four pieces and loaded by crane onto flatbed trucks in July 2022 before the caravan moved it down Main Street to the Great Lawn.

“It was quite the spectacle,” Urban said.

Jones called the structure “quite complicated.” The shingles on the roof, for example, must be handmade and “steam bent,” he said. The blades have a “delicate twist to them” that will require careful calculations during reassembly, the consultant added. 

Jones estimated the village once had more than 30 similar windmills, but the Hurricane of 1938 likely destroyed most that remained by that time. Then with the rise of electrical power, there wasn't much incentive to rebuild the structures, he said.

Urban said the village will be responsible for operating and maintaining the structure after the restoration project.

Moore touted the project's educational benefits and the importance of preserving pieces of history.

“Once something's gone, it's gone forever,” she said.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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