Join the spring open house festivities on Earth Day this Saturday, April 19, 2014, at the Spocott Windmill Complex located in Lloyds on Route 343, seven miles outside of Cambridge. The windmill complex houses a nineteenth-century village featuring the Spocott Windmill, Castle Haven School House, Colonial Tenant Cottage, and Blacksmith Shop.

The local destination serves as an educational tool to preserve area history and the culture of Dorchester County. The complex will be open to visitors during its annual Earth Day celebration from 10AM – 4PM. George Radcliffe, member of the Windmill Foundation, noted, “Earth Day gives us an opportunity to not only showcase county history but the environment that is so much a part of who we are.”

Environmental and historical exhibits, nature activities for the children, a horseshoe tournament, tours, and Native American presentations by Daniel Firehawk Abbott are just a few of the many events that will be open to the public with no admission charge. Just added this year, an Arbor Day Tree Giveaway will also take place.

Spocott was built in 1972, modeled after the original mill that was destroyed in the great blizzard of 1888. English settlers brought the post windmill technology with them and used it heavily in Dorchester County since the land is flat and allows for good conditions. “At one time, there were eighteen known post windmills in Dorchester County, four of which were in the Neck District,” said Radcliffe. “The county was one of the last on the East Coast where windmills were operated commercially to grind grain.”

Visiting the windmill complex allows you to step back in time and see an up close model of Dorchester County’s past. For more information on the Spocott Windmill Foundation and the Earth Day events please email radclifg@gmail.com or visit www.spocottwindmill.org.