Windmill Lighting, Beloved East End Tradition, Unfolds Friday

SOUTHAMPTON, NY —A popular East End holiday tradition will take place Friday as the lighting of the historic windmill at Stony Brook Southampton unfolds.

The event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Stony Brook Southampton student center cafeteria and will include refreshments, music, an alumni-sponsored photo booth, guided windmill tours, and crafts for kids.

Admission is free.

The event will include special recognition in honor of New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele.

After the lighting, a free lecture, "Whale Watching From the Beach: How Are New York Whales Reacting To A Changing Environment?", will be presented by Associate Professor Joe Warren, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, at the Duke Lecture Hall at 7 p.m.

The Stony Brook Southampton Windmill is an "iconic" landmark that has been located on the Shinnecock Hills campus since 1888 when Janet Hoyt, the wife of William Hoyt —builder of the Shinnecock Inn— heard that the windmill on Mill Hill Lane was going to be torn down and had it moved to their Shinnecock Hills property, organizers said.

The Southampton College windmill was one of three windmills in Southampton Village; the other two were destroyed.

Today, the windmill and its adjacent enclosed quad is used for events including readings, receptions, orientations, celebrations, workshops, fundraising dinners, and more.

The windmill was also deemed a literary landmark in 2013: Through the efforts of the graduate programs in creative writing, the windmill was officially designated by the Library Association of America as a literary landmark. The designation honors Tennessee Williams' 1957 residency in the windmill; during his stay, he wrote the play "The Day on Which a Man Dies" about the death of his friend Jackson Pollock.