19th Century Gloucester Windmills From Al Bezanson

This illustration appears in History of the town and city of Gloucester, Cape Ann Massachusetts, 1892, by James R. Pringle, who wrote,

“A sketch of the town in 1817 was drawn by Capt. John Beach, from a point in the harbor opposite Ten Pound island, off Pavilion Beach.  Standing out prominently in the foreground was an eight-sided wooden windmill erected on the site now occupied by the Pavilion Hotel.  This had been built in 1814 by Ignatius Webber, and its long arms, fitted with sails, made it a conspicuous object, and gave the town quite a foreign aspect.  It was subsequently removed to a position on Fort Square, where it became a familiar landmark, being destroyed by fire a few years ago.”

Another windmill, of more modern design, is prominent on Five Pound Island in an 1893 photograph by Martha Hovey, reproduced in Wharf and Fleet, by Gordon W. Thomas.

Al Bezanson