Old Higgins Farm Windmill

The Old Higgins Farm Windmill is significant as one of the few remaining windmills of the type once so numerous on Cape Cod, and as the only extant one in Brewster. The design, common in 17th-century England, has a fixed base and moveable cap. Because the base is not permanently attached to a foundation but rests on top of the ground, it, and others of its type, were often moved around. The mill was used to grind corn, the main export crop of Cape Cod in the 19th century, and after the Civil War, when the demand for corn diminished, this mill, and others like it on the Cape, were used with less frequency. The mill is in remarkable condition, with all of its moving parts extant except for the arms and sails. The interior 'scrimshaw' carvings also add to the windmill's significance. The windmill is now being restored to its original working condition.

The windmill has been in the same general location since the late eighteenth century. In 1795 there were three mills in the area, one of which stood on land belonging to the Crosby family. By 1845, Assessor records show that Crosby's windmill was the only one in Brewster. At that time, of it was owned jointly by "Higgins and Crosby", 4 by Nathan Crosby, and 1 by Isaac Hopkins. Interest in the mill passed through many hands, but the property never passed entirely out of Crosby's ownership. The windmill was probably moved several times during the nineteenth century, but never far from its original location. Around 1890 it was moved to the nearby estate of Roland Crosby Nickerson, where it served for many years as a clubhouse at the ninth hole of his private golf course. In November 1973, Mrs. Samuel Nickerson gave the windmill to the Brewster Historical Society, on the condition that it be moved. The move was completed in December 1974, and the Windmill is in the process of restoration. The mall will be used as an educational resource for the children of Brewster and a recreational and learning facility for the whole Cape.

The importance of the Windmill's function to the community cannot be underestimated. It housed one of the main industries in Brewster, grinding all the corn grown in the community and exporting this crop to the rest of the country. Corn was particularly important to the country in times of war, as corn meal was the staple of the soldiers' diet. After the Civil War, the nationwide demand for corn diminished, but the local citizens still took the corn they used for their own consumption to the mill to be ground. The corn grinding was celebrated by the Johnny Cake Festival, a local tradition that is carried on to this day.