The Vetter Windmill is one of the oldest remaining structures from Hermosa Beach's past.

    It once stood on the property of Hermann Vetter (Hermosa's first City Clerk) to provide water for his flower and vegetable gardens (in the area of Sixteenth Street and Ardmore) from the early part of the century until the late 1960s when the site was purchased for development.

    The windmill was moved to its present site in Greenwood Park, the small triangular park on Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation, by the Navy Seabees at the request of the City and its Improvement Commission members. (Click on a photo below to see a larger version.)

The Vetter Windmill on its original site near Ardmore and 16th Street.

And, another photo of the Vetter Windmill on the original site.

The windmill as it was being dismantled to go to its new site.

And, this is the Vetter Windmill spinning freely in Greenwood Park.

The Vetter Windmill during better days in Greenwood Park.

    Now however, due to neglect, the windmill needs a lot of repair. At one time the City even considered tearing it down or replacing it with a different windmill, but fortunately that idea did not prevail.

    Roger Bacon, owner of the Ralphs Shopping Center, closest to the windmill, devised the idea of having business owners pay to advertise on a banner across Pacific Coast Highway with the fees paid going into a fund to restore the windmill. Now, in July of 1998, there is over $33,000 in the fund and the renovation will begin soon.

    Contributers to the Vetter Windmill banner fund include: Roger E. Bacon and Family; Manhattan Ford/Toyota (three times); Starbucks Coffee Company; Dive and Surf; Hawthorne Savings and Loan (five times); The Beach House (Strand Hotel); and, Peyton Cramer Autos.

    And, special thanks to Roger Bacon for working to save the Windmill; Steve Storm for the engineering work and attending windmill conventions and buying parts for the windmill that are not readily available locally; Learned Lumber for supplies; Jack Wood for structural engineering; and, Pete Tucker for construction work.