How Wind Energy Became Popular in 19th Century Amesbury

Stover windmill advertisement. Designed for agricultural uses, windmills also became popular in more urban areas for pumping water from wells to private residences.

Windmills had proven themselves in rural America during the 1850s for pumping water and supplying energy for other tasks such as grinding corn. These windmills were available in various designs from several manufacturers, so it wasn’t long before city folks found ways to harness this “free” energy to make their lives more convenient.

Indoor plumbing was becoming popular in wealthier Amesbury households, but a public water distribution system to provide water to the plumbing wasn’t generally available, especially away from the town’s industrial center. A solution: pump water from one’s private well to storage tanks connected by pipes to the owner’s kitchens and bathrooms. And the pump could be powered by a readily available Stover, Eclipse, or Aermotor windmill installed right on the premises.

According to a new report by ACM volunteer researcher Mike Harrold, the first known windmill in Amesbury for this purpose appeared in 1883. Dudley Marston, a carriage wheel manufacturer, erected it near the intersection of Elm Street and Marston Street. (Today’s Marston Street was called Windmill Street, thanks to Marston’s prominent mill and pump house.) It’s the only Amesbury windmill documented by a photograph.

Other windmill locations around that time included Highland Street on the site of today’s Amesbury Health Center, Main Street near today’s McGinnis Auctioneers parking lot, and another on Main Street near the site of today’s middle school. All were privately owned and associated with family names such as Morrill and Huntington.

For more about Amesbury’s 19th Century windmills, their locations, and their technology, read Mike Harrold’s “Windmills in Amesbury.”