History uncovered at Orleans windmill site

By Susan Milton
smilton@capecodonline.com

ORLEANS - The Jonathan Young Windmill looks at home on Town Cove in Orleans, but the historic landmark has moved around since its construction in the early 1700s.

Yesterday about 15 people walked through the woods to see the windmill's likely first home on a hill in South Orleans. Marking the spot is a circle of large foundation stones rediscovered recently by amateur historian Michael Farber of Chatham.

"Everything fits," said miller and historian James Owens of Eastham, among those who came to see Farber's rare discovery in the town's watershed off Route 28.

Even the stones in the middle of the circle were historically correct, Owens said, describing how four to five-ton millstones "floated" in a support on a central foundation to keep weight off the walls of the mill. Read more ...

Michael Farber moves closer to solving windmill mystery

ORLEANS -- Michael Farber was in possession of a brick, an unusual brick, from a breezy site near what was once called the Namskaket River. He showed it to Jim Owens, who is locally famous as a font of windmill knowledge. Read more ...