A useful man was Williamsburg's William Robertson. Appointed clerk of the colony's Council in 1698, a director of the fledgling capital in 1705, and a city alderman in 1722, he also operated a most serviceable windmill.

Reconstructed on its original site, Robertson's tall, lattice-vaned, linen-sailed machine today commands Colonial Williamsburg's Windmill, Cooper, and Rural Trades site.

Colonial Virginians depended on local mills to grind the grain from which they made their bread. Watch as wind-driven sails power the grinding stones.