The Mid America Windmilll Museum located in Kendallville has about 50 water windmills from the last 100 years. These windmills were key to the development of farming in the midwest.
The museum has a barn with some of the windmill wheels showing how they function. The museum was originally built to showcase a local windmill manufacturer, but now has models from several different companies.
While most are the tall thin metal type, they do have one example of an English post mill.
The blades, or sails, have a variety of shapes.
The tails help stabilize and turn the windmill into the wind at the most optimum angle.
The tails also serve as advertising for the manufacturer.
Each manufacturer had a variety of shapes and sizes of tails and blades.
Some painted colorfully.
More symmetry – this time from the windmill blades.
The water windmill allowed farms with no electrical power to be able to pump water in the vast remote regions of the midwest.
The gears in the wheel assembly would turn the hub attached to the long pump rod inside of the pipe in the well.
This up and down motion pulls the water up.
These simple, elegant machines were the lifeline of the country.
A close up of the wheel mechanisms.
A wheel made to look like a Native American head dress.
An overview of the collection. Note the different manufacturers on the tails.
The museum also featured a small covered bridge.
The post mill stands out in the crowd.
Ironically the fountain in the water uses a modern electric pump, not the windmills. And the outhouse is just for decoration.
One final look at the collection of windmills at the Mid American Windmill Museum in Kendallville, Indiana.
RDZ Photography 