Fabyan Windmill - Structure

Structure

For an explanation of the machinery, see mill machinery.

The giant cypress wood beams, trimmed with black walnut, are all hand joined and doweled with wood dowels. In fact, there are no metal nails used inside the structure. Even the original gearing was handmade of hickory and maple, with all five floors containing different mechanisms.

The windmill was a functioning mill used by the Fabyans for grinding several types of grain, including corn, wheat, rye, and oats. It also served as a grain mill for Fabyan's herd of prized Jersey cattle.

At the mill's top, or cap, is a huge cogged wheel called the brake wheel, which was turned by wind blowing against the sails. The sails are covered with canvas sailcloths to help catch the wind. The sails had to be entirely reconstructed by Rasmussen and John Johnson, because they were missing when Fabyan bought the mill. The brake wheel, located in the cap, rotates an upright shaft running the height of the mill. This shaft supplied power to all of the mill's operations.

There is a set of belt-driven elevators, remarkable for its time, that moved the grains from chutes to hoppers, and even from floor to floor, making the mill almost fully automatic. Most other mills required workers to hand shovel materials between operations.

During its reconstruction, the Colonel had a new foundation poured, which created a basement. In the basement, he had ovens installed whose vents and chimney extended underground beneath Route 25 to a structure that once stood on the other side. In addition to the ovens, marble slabs and cooling racks were also installed. It is thought that at one time, the windmill basement was an operating bakery. During the flour rationing of World War I, the bakery supposedly produced bread for the Fabyan family and even for their two bears, Tom and Jerry. However, the extent of use of the mill's bakery is debatable due to an inadequate oven draft.