Pointe-Claire Windmill

Pointe-Claire Windmill
Moulin à vent de Pointe-Claire
Pointe-Claire windmill in winter
Map
45°25′30″N 73°49′32″W / 45.42511°N 73.8256°W / 45.42511; -73.8256
Location1 rue Saint-Joachim, Pointe-Claire
Width4 metres (13 ft)
Height7.5 metres (25 ft)
Completion date1710

The Pointe-Claire Windmill (French: Moulin à vent de Pointe-Claire) is a windmill in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest windmill on the island of Montreal and one of 18 remaining windmills in Quebec.[1]

Like most mills in New France it was built to a French design, a cylindrical stone tower with a movable roof which could be turned by a tail pole to face the sails to the wind. The mill had two doors, to provide an exit regardless of which ways the sails faced. The walls are four French feet (1m32) thick at the base. The interior is 12 French feet in diameter by 24 high.[2] The mill originally contained elevated platforms beneath gun slits for defence. The surrounding shoreline was fenced with pointed wooden stakes. However, the site was never attacked.[3]

  1. ^ RPCQ patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca
  2. ^ A la pointe claire. Conseil du patrimoine de Montreal. 2005. pp. 3–47. ISBN 2-9808545-4-9.
  3. ^ Matthews, Brian (1985). A History of Pointe-Claire. p. 24.