Jonnycakes, Boyd's Windmill Take Turns at "Picnic in Paradise"

Mary Dennis Kelley, board member of the Middletown Historical Society, made plenty of jonnycakes to go around Sunday afternoon for all the visitors who came to the a nostalgic tribute to the old Boyd's Grist Mill, which once processed corn for much of Aquidneck Island before it was relocated from Portsmouth to Middletown 20 years ago.

The family festival at Paradise Park featured as the main event the rare turning of the national registered historic windmill, after Andy Shrake of Massachusetts and President of the Middletown Historical Society, William Nedderman, added wind vanes and a couple of pushes to help the Windmill take flight.

The Middletown Historical Society sponsored the annual festival, which offered family activities, jazz music, and food, announces photo contest winners, and turns on the old Boyd's Grist Mill for the day.

The town's Substance Abuse Task Force was on hand to provide fun games and activities for children, while the Lois Vaughn Trio, played an eclectic mix of jazz. Lou's Hot Dogs sold their Brooklyn-inspired tasty hot dog, sausage, chili and cheese dog and knish specialties and Del's Lemonade served up Rhode Island's favorite frozen lemonade refreshment. Other offerings included face-painting, a petting zoo, and, of course, those delicious johnnycakes.

The old Boyd's Grist Mill mill was famous for processing corn and other grains for many farms on Aquidneck Island.  Jonnycakes have been a traditional food in Rhode Island for over 300 years.

Originally built in Portsmouth in 1810, Boyd's Wind Grist Mill had only four vanes, each 28 feet long and 7 feet, 4 inches wide, according to Middletown Historical Society volunteers at the festival Sunday.  The mill was owned and operated by three generations of the Boyd family (expect for the first five years under Peterson). William Boyd sold the mill to his son, Leander Boyd, who then passed the mill down to his son Benjamin Boyd.

In 1901, Benjamin Boyd remodeled the mill from four vanes to eight vanes,  the main advantage being the ability to work in lighter winds which made the windmill able to harness wind power more days per year.  In 1916, the mill was converted to gasoline power.

The mill stood in its Portsmouth, Rhode Island original location for 185 years until the Boyd family donated the mill to the Middletown Historic society in 1990.

This historic Boyd's Eight-vane Wind Grist Mill was fully restored, relocated to Paradise Park and later officially dedicated in October of 2001. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. According to the Middletown Historical Society website, windmills represent an important part of Middletown's and the Island's technological history, having long been associated with Aquidneck Island since the 17th century.

Boyd's Wind Grist Mill sits adjacent to Paradise School, a circa 1875 one-room schoolhouse restored for use as the Historical Society's headquarters. It is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Middletown Historical Society is an all-volunteer, non-profit educational organization, founded in 1976, and chartered to promote the investigation of all aspects of Middletown, Rhode Island.

For more information about local historic landmarks, visit the Middletown Historical Society website or email the Historical Society at projects@middletownhistory.org.

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