Bailey Farm Windmill (1905-Present)

The Bailey Farm Windmill is an octagonal wood-frame structure with a domed copper roof, situated on a concrete plot that overlooks both open fields and the Carrabassett River in North Anson, Maine. The windmill widens towards the bottom, with the entryway located on the west side of the building. To allow light to enter the stairway, there are four six-pane windows located at different heights. At the top of the windmill stands an observation area surrounded by a railing. The dome roof is topped with a steeple that supports the rotating mechanism and carriage of the wheel. The wheel has six wooden spokes, but they no longer retain their wooden paddles, which means it will no longer catch the wind. The interior of the windmill is efficient in style. At one point, the windmill housed a central rotating shaft that led to a shallow dug well. The shaft was separated from the stairs by tongue-and-groove boards that acted as partitions from the exterior walls. 

This structure was believed to be built in 1905 by an unknown builder on the property of Benjamin and Chester Bailey. They decided on this date because of a specific marking under one of the steps. A Somerset Reporter did not confirm the time of construction to take place in 1904 or 1905. The frame structure heavily resembles the Portland Observatory. The Bailey’s lived on this farm until it was sold in 1908. Although there isn’t specific data supporting this claim, it is believed that the Bailey’s were well-known farmers. However, they have discovered that they are connected with Carrabassett Stock Farms located in North Anson, whose superintendent was C.V Bailey between the years of 1902 and 1915. Although a fire that took place in 1915 burnt the well and a pump that supplied water to the farm, the windmill remained in use until the 1920s providing water through a gas-powered engine. During WWII, the windmill was used as an observation tower for the military.

In the year of 2005, the windmill was given to the town of Anson by Winston McLean. As of 2009, the Anson Historical Society has been working to restore the windmill every construction season. On May 12, 2017, Mitchell Quint, President of the Anson Historical Society, along with Stan Quint, owner of the Quint Company of Texas, installed a plaque to the side of the windmill marking it as a historic site. 

 Although it is unknown how windmills affected the state’s agricultural development, it is visible that not many survived on the limited number of farmsteads left in the state. Making the windmill seem more prevalent in this period, the Maine Farmer, the state’s leading agricultural magazine, dating back to the 1890s, carried advertisements for windmills offered with mail order. Although, when examining the annual reports from the Board of Agriculture discussed the construction and use of things like barns, machinery, farm layout, and birdhouses, but never mentioned windmills at all. After reviewing rural landscape photos from the period, typically, a windmill wouldn’t be pictured. This windmill still deserves recognition because many windmills constructed along the same period were built with open metal frames as opposed to the Bailey Farm’s octagonal wood frame. The style of the structure, along with it being one of the only windmills to survive on Maine’s farmland, is what made it significant to be added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1988. 

"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form." National Park Service. Accessed July 31, 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/e1f6da43-d9ea-4b18-adc6-3771be90ab6f.

Maine: An Encyclopedia. "Anson." Maine: An Encyclopedia. Last modified July 21, 2020. Accessed July 31, 2020. https://maineanencyclopedia.com/anson/. 

The Irregular. "Plaque Installed on Bailey Farm Windmill | The Irregular." Online Twice-Monthly Newspaper in Kingfield & Eustis ME. Last modified May 17, 2017. https://www.theirregular.com/articles/plaque-installed-on-bailey-farm-windmill/.