Gone With The Wind: Windmills Are A Forgotten Legacy Of The Outer Banks

''The whole set up was entirely dependent upon the wind. At times, during the fall of the year, I recall their were whole weeks when the mill stood idle and useless due to calm weather, and sometimes the supply of meal would get so low that people would pray for wind as they often do now for rain,'' Taylor said. ''The amount of sail depended on the velocity of the wind. To make good meal, the rocks [mill stones] should not be turned too fast. This meant that if the wind became heavy, the sails had to be reefed, just as in a sailing vessel.''

''My father used to dry the new corn in the fall on the sail of his boat which was spread on the porch roof of our home. My, but that was good corn-bread my mother baked in the 12-inch cast iron spider in the open fireplace,'' he said.

Many of the Outer Banks windmills were destroyed by the Great Hurricane of 1899, when the storm battered the coast -- and the exposed mills -- for three days with top winds estimated at more than 155 miles per hour. After the storm, many of the mills simply weren't rebuilt. Advancements in technology in internal combustion engines and steam engines provided a more reliable power source. Large mills on the mainland started supplying cheap four and meal to the Outer Banks and the sound of the great blades turning in the breeze quietly faded away.