Exhaustive Photograph Documentation Of The San Francisco North Dutch Windmill Restoration Project 1977-1981

HOWARD LIN

Publication: Privately photographed and printed, 1976 - 1981, San Francisco, 1977 - 1981

First edition. 11 1/2" x 10" black vinyl-covered three-ring binder holding a two-page typed press release, six 8" x 10" black & white photographs and 156 2" x 2 color" photograph transparencies, plus a photocopy of a newspaper clipping from the Berkeley Barb dated March 11 - 17, 1977, and laid- in. Spectacular photographic coverage of a late 1970s restoration project of the historic North Dutch Windmill and the South Murphyn Windmill, both located in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Per a press release on the project found here, the windmill "was originally built in 1902 to harness the inexpensive Pacific Ocean wind to power water pumps for Golden Gate Park's irrigation system" and "played a very important role" in the early development of the Park. Motorized pumps were installed in 1913, and over the years the windmill was neglected, vandalized and ultimately sealed. In the early 1960s, one Eleanor Rossi Crabtree ("the windmill crusader") started a campaign for their restoration, and, over two decades, raised more than $100,000 in private contributions and convinced the city to match the funds. Starting in August 1976, an 18-member U.S. Navy Seabee construction crew worked one weekend a month on the project, which was completed in November 1981. This binder contains three black & white reproductions of historic photographs of the windmill and three original shots of the project in progress, as well as 155 numbered color Kodachrome slides documenting the restoration. There are great shots of smiling construction workers, close-ups of project components, and beautiful views of the park and the Bay. Laid in is a copy of a slightly snippy article from a 1977 issue of the (fittingly named) Berkeley Barb, noting that the project was just for looks: "In short, what was once an energy-producing water pump is being rebuilt as a nonfunctioning, energy-draining tourist attraction - a veritable monument to the American Way." Binder and contents are very good to near fine condition.