{"nrhp_refnum":"75000240","name":"Old Higgins Farm Windmill","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"51 Drummer Boy Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brewster","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.75223602700004,"lon":-70.12068916099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-06-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 30-foot-high shingled windmill with a fixed octagonal base and revolving cap, in Brewster, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. A local data sheet dates construction to about 1795; it was moved to a nearby site in December 1974.","why_significant":"It is one of the few remaining Cape Cod windmills of a type once numerous, and the only surviving one in Brewster. Its wooden machinery is almost entirely intact, and its interior carvings resemble scrimshaw. It ground the corn that was Cape Cod's main export crop in the 19th century.","narrative":"This windmill in Brewster, Massachusetts, is a 30-foot shingled structure with a fixed octagonal base 20 feet across and a revolving cap framed with curved members like a ship's hull. Inside, three levels hold wooden gears, a bread wheel, grindstones and a corn cob cracker. Carvings reminiscent of scrimshaw, together with the boat-like construction, led locals to believe ship builders made it, though this was never confirmed. Records place a mill on Crosby land by 1795, and by 1845 it was the only windmill in Brewster. It was moved several times, around 1890 to a nearby estate where it served as a golf course clubhouse, and again in 1974 after being donated to the Brewster Historical Society. It is valued as one of the few surviving Cape Cod windmills of its type, which ground corn, the region's main 19th-century export crop. About 85 percent of the structure is original, and restoration is under way.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Moved in December 1974 to a nearby site and under restoration to working condition; condition listed as fair, with sails lost and tail pole rotted. Planned for public educational and recreational use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.219471-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7939/63793933/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000240.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000240/7902ab56dc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000240/7902ab56dc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pub. by H. L. Moore Co., West Yarmouth, Mass. Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Windmill,_Cape_Cod,_Mass_(61282).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pub. by H. L. Moore Co., West Yarmouth, Mass. Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass.</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Windmill,_Cape_Cod,_Mass_(61282).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793933","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Higgins_Farm_Windmill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084205"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/old-higgins-farm-windmill-75000240/"}