In 1964, the City of Holland purchased the windmill De Zwaan from a retired miller in the town of Vinkel in the province of North Brabant, the Netherlands. The windmill was shipped from the Netherlands to the port of Muskegon, Michigan on the ship Prins Willem van Oranje. It was brought by truck from Muskegon to its present location on Windmill Island. Reconstruction of the mill began in 1964 and the park opened in April 1965. The island, formerly farmed by Henry F. Koop, was chosen because of the favorable wind conditions there. Although originally a peninsula, a manmade canal turned the land into an artificial island. Before the arrival of De Zwaan, it was known as Hyma Island.
On April 10, 1965, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands became the first visitor to the park and presided over the grand opening. His ticket and the ten guilder bill he used to purchase it are still on display in the park today.
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| Historic view of De Zwaan in Vinkel |
In 1961 Castle Park resort owner Carter P. Brown proposed the idea of creating a public park with "an authentic Dutch windmill," a symbol of Holland's Dutch heritage. To do so, city officials needed permission from the Dutch government, which protects windmills as national monuments. Willard C. Wichers, midwest director for the Netherlands Information Service, led negotiations with the Dutch over a three-year period.
In June 1964 he traveled to the Netherlands to find a suitable mill and finalize arrangements to buy and move it. In Vinkel, Noord Brabant, stood a mill that had been built in 1884 using pieces from older mills. Named De Zwaan (the Swan), it had been damaged during WWII, and had deteriorated. Dutch officials allowed its sale but required that Dutch millwright Jan D. Medendorp supervise its relocation and restoration.
After the windmill arrived at Muskegon, the pieces were moved to this site. Over the next six months, Medendorp supervised the mill's reconstruction, including its placement onto a new brick base. He restored its gears to working order, allowing it to mill local grain into flour.
The cap of the windmill (the top dome covered with metal shingles) is on metal rollers so it can be rotated to move the blades into the wind. The blades can turn the way they are, but canvas sails can be used if the miller needs to catch more wind.
The bottom three brick floors were added in America to raise the mill to catch the wind. In the Netherlands, this was accomplished by siting the mill on a mound. The brick is laid at an angle and alternating layers for strength and to allow for proper drainage.
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| Piece of Old Blade |
This is an original piece of the old blades of the windmill. The blades served De Zwaan from the early 1900s through March of 2000. This windmill was used as a lookout in The Netherlands during World War II. If you look closely, you will be able to find the bullet holes left in the blades from that time.
A pair of millstones weigh 3.5 tons. The top stone or runner is 2 tons and the bottom stone or bedstone is 1.5 tons.
We walked into the first floor of the mill and there was a lady dressed in Dutch attire to tell a little of the history of the mill.
This the system they used to hoist grain up to be ground on the mill floor. The little shoe was used as a message system.
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| Second Floor - Packaging |
The flour is sifted with the bolter to separate out the bran before being packaged and stored in the freezer.
The angel and sun are decorations that can go on the blades of the windmill. Blades are often decorated in times of celebration or loss.
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| Milling Machine |
This is the floor where the miller spends most of his time when grinding grain.
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| View from the deck |
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| Grain Hopper |
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| Drawbridge "Ophaalbrug" |
This drawbridge is a replica of one located in the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem. The original was relocated to the museum in 1939 from Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, a town south of Amsterdam. While the exact age of the original bridge is unknown, references to an earlier bridge can be traced back to 1358.
Known as a Dubbele Ophaalbrug (double drawbridge), the bridgeman would have opened the bridge by utilizing a system of counterbalances. Tolls were collected from pedestrians crossing the bridge as well as boats passing through when it was opened. A list of tolls from 1771 can be seen on the bridge's uprights.
This drawbridge spans a canal which is actually a branch of the Macatawa River that wraps around the park. The canal was dug in 1964 to create an island home for the city's newly transplanted windmill.
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| Original Drawbridge |
The original double drawbridge from Ouderkerk aan de Amstel where it currently sits at the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem. The original drawbridge is so perfectly balanced that the operators can open and close it with almost the touch of a finger.
The island on the other side of the canal is also known as a Polder -- the Dutch term for an area of low-lying land that is surrounded by dikes. As much as 20% of the country was previously water. Creating a polder and draining the water was a way for the Dutch to reclaim land from the sea. The Flevopolder in Flevoland is considered the world's largest artificial island at 370 square miles.
There were quite a few Canada duck families that live on the island.
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| Lady of Delft |
Their "Lady of Delft" was a wonderful gift by Valerie Snoeyink and Valerie Spoelhof to commemorate their 2017 Artful Garden Theme. The mosaic sculpture is covered by hundreds of shards of Dutch delft pottery.
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| Purple Martin Houses |
Purple Martins are a neotropical bird, meaning they migrate south during the winter to molt and get a new set of feathers. They nest in the North American hemisphere. The first birds to get back home, called the "scouts," have passed their second summer of life and are called "after second year" birds. After the scouts arrive, more birds follow. Purple Martins will produce one brood of young per year of 3 to 6 eggs. They will not use bird feeders or bird baths, preferring to forage for food and water. Although people scare them away, they actually prefer large amounts of human activity and will return. They have learned over the years that humans will scare away predators.
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| Tulpi Chairs |
These "tulip" chairs come from the Netherlands and are designed to look like tulips.
This mill is a one-tenth replica of the de Zwaan windmill. It was a gift for a local businessman. The builder spent several months working for the City of Holland, first to deconstruct the mill in the Netherlands and then reconstructing it in Holland.
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| The shops at the Island |
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| Little Netherlands |
Little Netherlands is a Dutch community in miniature. The hundreds of figures, buildings, boats and windmills represent life in the Old Country in the 1840s when the first immigrants reached Holland, Michigan. The miniature here is on display in one of the buildings, but the back light was so bad I could not get any good pictures.
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| Dutch Mailbox |
In the Netherlands, early Dutch mailboxes were a variety of shapes and colors until the national postal service made green the standard color in 1850. This mailbox was produced in Deventer Overijssel in 1906. Shortly after in 1914, the postal service switched to red mailboxes.
Unfortunately much of this box's history is obscure as it was discovered by Holland resident Willard Wichers in Montreal, Canada in 1969. It is unknown where it stood in the Netherlands or how it made its way across the Atlantic. However, Wichers would have recognized the mailbox immediately as he was the key link between Holland, Michigan and the Netherlands so he spent considerable time there. He was also key in procuring the de Zwaan windmill.
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| Dutch Kiddie Carousel |
While the carousel is meant to be ridden by the younger crowd, kids of all ages love to marvel at this treasure. Formerly a carnival ride in the province of Groningen, it was brought to America in the 1970s. Rides on the refurbished horses are available throughout the day.
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| The Four Columns Street Organ |
Built in 1928 by the famous organ maker Carl Frel, the Four Columns was a well loved and famous organ often played in the streets of Breda, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. The 69 metal key organ was given to the City of Holland in 1947 by the City of Amsterdam in gratitude for the role of the United States in liberating the Netherlands in World War II.
I have videos of the organ playing, but the file format is not compatible with the blog format and I cannot get it to load. If I figure it out, I will add it at a later date.
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