About this property
Boyd's Windmill, also known as Boyd's Wind Grist Mill, is a historic smock mill at Paradise Valley Park on Prospect Avenue in Middletown, Rhode Island. John Peterson built the windmill at the corner of Mill Lane and West Main Rd. in Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1810, and William Boyd purchased it in 1815. It originally had four common sails, but four more were added by the family. The mill is a timber-frame structure, octagonal in shape, and about 30 feet (9.1 m) tall, with a rotating cap powered by eight vanes with canvas sheets. The grindstones in the middle of the mill are Fall River granite; the upper one, which is connected to the power mechanisms, rotates six times for each turn of the mill's main shaft. In 1916 Benjamin Boyd removed the original vanes and powered the mill using a gasoline engine. It is one of only two historic windmills (out of what was estimated to be more than thirty) to survive on Aquidneck Island. Boyd's Mill features prominently on the town seal of Middletown. The windmill was restored by the Middletown Historical Society after receiving it as a donation in 1990 and moving it to Paradise Valley Park in Middletown. The windmill is open to the public on Sunday afternoons in July, August and September. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Boyd's Windmill
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Questions about this property
When was Boyd's Windmill listed on the National Register?
Boyd's Windmill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 26, 2001.
What type of historic resource is Boyd's Windmill?
Boyd's Windmill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Boyd's Windmill?
The period of significance for Boyd's Windmill is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1810.
Can I research the history near Boyd's Windmill?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Boyd's Windmill will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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