The 'Vijfhuizer Molen', Haarlem

'Vijfhuizer' = 'Five-houser' -- the name of the polder this windmill has been assigned to since 1874, when it was constructed.    'Vijfhuizer' most likely referred to five houses or homesteads that had been in the area at the time it was first occupied, and it was possibly the owners, or descendants of the owners, of these properties who first converted the swampy 'land' into polders.  According to the windmill database, these polders were joined into one, the Vijfhuizer polder', in 1649, of course with a windmill to maintain it.  That windmill burned down in 1859 and it took a few iterations before the polder managers settled on this one fifteen years later.  In short, this is another clear example of how the presence of a windmill and the importance of its function has significantly contributed to the history and evolution of its location and the surrounding areas.  These windmills weren't built only to satisfy some landowners' fancy.

Sunny when I left and sunny when I arrived there... until I actually got to the mill.  I could almost hear the weather gods having a good laugh behind the clouds.  Very kind of them to let it stay dry, though, with some sun allowed to pierce through the grey.  Thankful the trip was not wasted but it was close.  There is only one more windmill left to shoot in Haarlem.  I"ve seen a picture of it and it's one of those I will leave until I absolutely run out of choices.

Enough adrenaline to pursue the genealogy hobby later in the day, plus kitchen duties and other odds and ends, but altogether not much.