Chatham Windmill

The Chatham Windmill is a wooden octagonal structure standing three stories tall with wind vanes and shingle covering, located in Chase Park. The building features visible mechanical components inside that powered the grain-grinding process.

Benjamin Godfrey built this mill in 1797 on Stage Harbor Road, where it operated commercially until the early 1900s. It was later moved to its current location at Chase Park in the 1950s.

The mill shows how people in Chatham ground grain for daily use long ago and how central this work was to community life. Visitors can observe the interior workings and understand the role this building played in the everyday rhythms of earlier residents.

The building is open to visitors during certain seasons when demonstrations of traditional grain grinding are offered. It sits in an open park setting that makes it easy to approach from all directions, with clear views of the structure's details.

The interior retains many of its original mechanical parts that show how the grinding process worked. This makes it one of few wooden windmills in the region that still has these functioning components intact.

Location: Massachusetts

GPS coordinates: 41.67611,-69.95917

Latest update: December 14, 2025 18:10