Golden Gate Park windmills, Historic tower mills in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, US
The Golden Gate Park windmills are two tower mills at the western edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco: the Dutch Windmill to the north, completed in 1903, and the Murphy Windmill to the south, completed in 1908. Both are wind-driven pumping structures rather than decorative buildings.
The Dutch Windmill was completed in 1903 and the Murphy Windmill in 1908, both at the western edge of Golden Gate Park. They pumped groundwater to irrigate the park as its sand dunes were planted and turned into green space. The Murphy mill was financed by banker Samuel G. Murphy, nicknamed "Sunset Murphy".
The two mills carry the names of the men behind them: the northern one is the Dutch Windmill, the southern one the Murphy Windmill, finished in 1908. "Sunset Murphy" is the nickname tied to the second mill's builder, a name still used for the structure today.
The Dutch Windmill stands in the northwest corner of Golden Gate Park, near the Great Highway and the Ocean Beach dunes; the Murphy Windmill lies about 800 metres south of it, near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Both are reached on foot or by bike along the park's western paths, and the open lawns and flower beds around their bases are where visitors usually stop.
The southern mill, Murphy Windmill, was completed in 1908, five years after the Dutch Windmill to its north. The two are the surviving pair of the park's historic windmills, and the Dutch Windmill stands as the older of the two.
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