New England Windmill Tour

Bring your bag of corn to grind the old fashioned way, and come along with BHS Miller, Carolyn Noering, as she shows the workings of an original New England windmill in Brewster MA.
America’s early colonists considered three things requisite to start a settlement – a minister, a blacksmith, and a miller. The old Higgins Farm Windmill was originally located in E. Brewster, about 5 miles from its present site. It is authenticated in a map dated 1795 which shows the mill standing at what is now the corner of Rte. 6A and Ellis Landing Rd.

In 1973, Mrs. Samuel Nickerson gave the mill to The Brewster Historical Society stipulating it should be moved, restored and opened to the public. Brewster's mill was hoisted onto a flatbed trailer and moved down Rte. 6A to its present site on former Drummer Boy Museum land given by Mr & Mrs Lewis McGowan. The restoration is as authentic as knowledge, experience and skilled craftsmen have been able to make it. Even the millstones are originals, which is unusual.