After the Beemster finally dried up in 1612, the intention was to build five flour mills in this new reclaimed land. In the end it became and remained only one.
In 1669, wood buyer Pereboom from Beets supplied wood for a mill for 500 Carolus guilders. Considering the amount, it looks like a new mill. It provides a strong indication that the mill dates from 1669 and was the successor to an earlier built mill.
The construction shows a remarkable similarity to the flour mill De Hoop in Oude Niedorp. The year of construction of that mill is also vague; it cannot be ruled out that the mill was second-hand and was built (perhaps in 1641) with a demolished octagon and the going gear from a demolished rocking flour mill.
The current gait of De Nachtegaal is not as old as that in Oude Niedorp; Moreover, the railway wheel looks like a converted polder mill wheel. The year 1704 is written on that wheel and that certainly has nothing to do with the original year of construction of De Nachtegaal. The grinding stones were located in half an attic, just like - among others - in Oude Niedorp. This situation later changed at De Nachtegaal.