What's Up With The Old Mill? Historic Restoration Project Far More Extensive Than Initially Thought

One of Nantucket's most recognizable historic structures has spent the summer rather...dressed down.

The Old Mill - built in 1746 and believed to be the oldest working windmill in the U.S. in its original location - has gone through the peak season with no shingles, no sails, and has not been operating for over a year.

When the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA), which owns the Old Mill, embarked on a major historic restoration project last June to conduct structural repairs and reinforcement of the 280-year-old landmark, the effort was expected to be "fast-paced" and be wrapped up by now.

But what the NHA and its consultants uncovered as they opened up the structure last fall was that the project would be far more complex and involved than they initially thought. Now they anticipate a multi-year effort that has no definitive completion date.

"As we’ve opened up the mill and started peeling the onion back, we’ve kept finding things," said NHA executive director Niles Parker. "There’s a lot of work that needs to be done that wasn't fully evident or visible...So we’ve hit pause and brought on two firms to help us make sense of this." 

The NHA is now working with Amy Boyce, of Husk Preservation Inc., a firm that specializes in historic mill restoration, along with the Brooklyn-based Integrated Conservation Resources, Inc. (ICR) and Integrated Conservation Contracting, Inc. (ICC), or ICR-ICC, which has assisted the NHA with several other recent projects.

"It’s probably the most iconic structure on the island, and we want to ensure it stays that way," Parker said. "You can't just put the shingles back on and you're good to go. It’s a structure, but it’s also a mechanism that is made of wood for the most part. Over its 280 years, there have been multiple restorations and fixes made, and those are just the ones we know about. I’m sure there are ones we don’t know about."

The NHA and its consultants have installed monitoring systems to track the moisture of the wood, temperature, and humidity, along with ground and water level sensors to determine how the stone foundation has shifted over the years, and ground-penetrating radar imagery.

"I think people think this is just this little tiny building, but it’s a remarkably complex working structure, and we want to do it right," Parker said. "It’s a really cool project, but it's not one that happens in six months."

The Old Mill is a smock mill, with a fixed body containing the machinery and a cap that turns to face the vanes and sails into the wind. The Old Mill, according to the NHA's records, saw many years of use and is the only surviving mill of the five that once stood overlooking Nantucket town. When the mill appeared on the auction block in 1897, the NHA secured the structure with a successful bid of $885. After minor repairs over the years — and major overhauls in 1930, 1936, and 1983 — the mill can grind corn just as it has for over two centuries.

"One of the big questions that’s come up as we’re restoring this mill is to what year or timeframe do we restore it to?" Parker said. "There are five or six or seven periods of restoration that are still evident within the mill. What do we want to take it back to? What kind of wood was used in that time frame? We’re probably not going to restore it to 1746 even though we know enough to base a decision on how it worked, but we know a lot more on how it worked in 19th or 20th centuries. As we land on that answer, that will inform the type of wood we want to use. Landing on that period of significance, that’s a key part of the challenge we face and is exactly what we’re digging into now."

In addition to reshingling the Old Mill and restoring its internal mechanisms, the project will include removing the cap of the mill with a crane to allow additional work to be completed, and replacing the long tail pole that helps turn the mill into the wind.

Parker said he has heard the questions and concerns about the status of the Old Mill out in the community, as the months have now stretched into a whole year, with the landmark not looking its best.

"To reassure people, stuff is happening, it doesn't look it, but it is," he said. "People, I'm sure, are scratching their heads and are frustrated, but it’s just a way bigger project than we expected, and I hope people will be excited when it's completed."