Mid-America Windmill Museum

 Special Attractions
    Baker Hall Recption Center     Power Mill Building     Robertson Post Windmill     Samson (O'Connor) Windmill

 Newsletter
    Windmill Clipper

 

Museum Open
April – November

 

Hours

 Tues. – Fri. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
 Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
 Sun. 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

 

Admission

 Adults $4.00
 Seniors 55+ $3.50
 Student/Child $1.50
 Children under 6 Free


Address

 732 S. Allen Chapel Road
 Kendallville, IN 46755
 260-347-2334


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Power Mill


Although most American windmills were designed to pump water, others were manufactured to furnish wind power to run some type of machinery usually farm equipment. Windmills of that type were known as Power Mills. The most popular sizes of windmills for use on the farm were mills with a 12’, 14’, or 16’ diameter wind wheel. These mills were used for a variety of farm related tasks. Power Mills were most commonly used for shelling corn and grinding grain for livestock feed. Other typical uses included sawing wood, operating churns, cutting fodder, turning grindstones, and operating other small machines.

The Power Mill uses the energy of the wind to rotate a vertical shaft connected to the wind wheel. At the bottom, the vertical shaft is connected to a set of foot gears which transfers the rotating motion of the vertical shaft to a horizontal line shaft that has pulleys connected to various types of belt driven equipment to produce mechanical power.

It was a goal of the Mid-America Windmill Museum to acquire a Power Mill. After several years of searching, the museum located a Power Mill from a windmill restorer in Omaha, Nebraska. We were fortunate to be able to purchase that early 1900’s vintage Power Mill, an “open-back geared” Aermotor with a 12’ diameter wind wheel. That style windmill was made beginning in the late 1880’s and continued to be produced into the 1920’s. It was one of the few remaining Aermotor Power Mills still in existence.

The Aermotor needed considerable restoration and several new parts. Duane Miller of Miller’s Windmill Service in Middlebury, Indiana worked to get the mill in working condition. The mill was finally erected on a new forty-foot high steel tower in the spring of 2002. American Builders of Angola, Indiana built a 16’ by 32’ steel pole building around the base of the tower. It was tedious work since the siding had to be connected to the Power Mill through a system of gears, belts, and shafts.Rental fees are based on the type of event scheduled. A deposit is required to reserve a date. Persons renting the facility also need to have a Liability Insurance Policy. Renters must provide off-duty police security for the building if alcohol is going to be available during the event. Cleaning service can be arranged and provided for an additional charge.

Generous contributions from local financial institutions enabled the Mid-America Windmill Museum to build and create this unique exhibit. Inside, visitors can see the tower actually going up through the roof. On display in the Power Mill building are several pieces of antique farm machinery, including an International Harvester corn sheller, “The Clipper”, a seed cleaner/separator also known as a Fanning Mill, a saw blade, a Burr Mill, a grinding stone, and a drill press from the 1880’s. Each of these can be connected to the central line shaft by a system of belts to be connected to the Power Mill and operated by the windpower generated from the Aermotor windmill.

The museum continues to work searching for additional pieces of farm equipment to increase and enhance the Power Mill exhibit.