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America’s only authentic operational Dutch windmill, De Zwaan serves as Holland, Michigan’s iconic connection to the community’s roots. Believed to have been built in 1761, then moved to the village of Vinkel in North Brabant, The Netherlands, where it produced flour for eighty years, the windmill was dismantled, shipped to the United States, and reassembled in 1964. For more than a half-century, “The Swan” (the translation of De Zwaan) has drawn visitors from all over the world.
Alisa Crawford, De Zwaan’s miller—and the only Dutch certified miller in the United States—shares a fascinating look at the story of this historic structure as well as other American- and Dutch-built windmills. Through years of research and interviews with people connected to De Zwaan, she reveals the true origins of its construction, the damage it sustained in World War II, its journey to America, its resurrection as a working mill, its rise as a premier Midwestern attraction, and even the effect its relocation had on the village of Vinkel.
Delivering the only complete story of this working mill and an extraordinary collection of images spanning its life in the Netherlands and America, this book is a collector edition to commemorate De Zwaan’s productive and lengthy career and the City of Holland’s commitment to this significant monument of living history.
