Historic Old Mill Partially Disassembled As Restoration Project Enters Next Phase

The roof is off at the Old Mill.

The next phase of repairs on the historic structure got underway Wednesday with the removal of both the cap of the mill, which can be turned to face the wind, and the long tail pole that extends from the side of the mill directly opposite where the sails would usually be. The work gave islanders a unique opportunity to see the Sparks Avenue windmill disassembled.

Removing the roof and tail pole is a precarious operation and requires winds below 10 miles per hour, a somewhat rare occurrence on the famously windy Nantucket. The cap weighed an estimated 9,000 pounds, while the tail pole is believed to weigh 4,200 to 4,800 pounds, according to Husk Preservation's Amy Boyce, who completed the work with Toscana Corp. on Wednesday.

“Removing the cap is a delicate, yet vital step in the restoration process. And from our knowledge, this will be the first time the cap has ever been temporarily lifted off the structure,” Nantucket Historical Association executive director Niles Parker said. “We are navigating our limitations in the safest and most efficient way possible…This project is a multi-year effort and promises to reveal new information about the mill and its history. We are excited to share more about each phase of work.”

Built in 1746 and purchased by the Nantucket Historical Association in 1897, the Old Mill is believed to be the oldest working mill in the United States—although it is not working at the moment, and hasn’t been for over two years. The mill underwent major restorations in 1930, 1936 and 1983, but the latest restoration has turned out to be much more involved than the Nantucket Historical Association anticipated.

When repairs first began in 2024, the Nantucket Historical Association expected that they would be complete in less than a year. But the non-profit soon learned that the work would be much more complicated than it had planned for, and the project has now stretched into its third year, leaving one of Nantucket’s most recognizable structures bare, without shingles or sails.

With the removal of the cap and tail pole completed, a temporary roof built by Barber & Sons was installed atop the mill to protect the inside from the weather during preparations for the next phase of restoration, which could take some time.

“Project lead and millwright Amy Boyce, millwright Jim Kricker, and preservation timber framer Nathaniel Allen of Husk Preservation Inc. are working with local corporations including Toscana Corporation and Barber & Sons to complete the work,” the Nantucket Historical Association wrote in a statement. “All teams are united and dedicated to using the fastest, easiest, and least invasive methods on the structure. We are thankful to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) and their important leadership support in the project.”

Meanwhile, the Nantucket Historical Association has also commissioned a dendrochronologist to date the timbers used in the Old Mill in an effort to determine how old the wood is and where it may have initially come from.