Porch Notes
An 18th-Century Dutch Windmill Got On a Boat and Moved to Michigan
History and culture
In Holland, Michigan, on a man-made island in the middle of town, stands the only authentic, working Dutch windmill in the United States. Its name is De Zwaan — “The Swan.” It’s around 260 years old. And it was the very last windmill the Netherlands ever allowed to leave the country.
The story starts in 1761, when De Zwaan was built in the Netherlands as a grain mill. By the time of World War II, it had been moved to the village of Vinkel, in North Brabant, where it produced flour for decades. The war damaged it badly. By the early 1960s, it was in such rough shape that the Dutch government — which protects its windmills as national treasures and almost never lets them be sold abroad — agreed to make a one-time exception. A group from Holland, Michigan bought it for about $2,800, on the condition that a Dutch millwright supervise its move.
Disassembly started in June 1964. Roughly 7,000 numbered pieces, weighing 66 tons in total, were packed up and shipped across the Atlantic on a Dutch steamship. They reached the port of Muskegon, Michigan on October 5, 1964. From there, trucks hauled the pieces to a prepared site in Holland. Over the next six months, the Dutch millwright reassembled the entire mill on a new brick base. On April 10, 1965, Michigan Governor George Romney and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands dedicated De Zwaan in person.
Today the mill turns in the breeze and still grinds grain into flour. The U.S. miller is the only American to be officially certified by the Dutch Guild of Millers.
Where to see it
De Zwaan windmill stands at Windmill Island Gardens, 1 Lincoln Ave., Holland, Michigan. The 36-acre park is open seasonally (typically April through October) and is at its most spectacular in early May during the Tulip Time Festival, when more than 100,000 tulips bloom on the grounds.