Illinois Windmills HOME

Welcome to Illinois Windmills

Welcome to Illinois Windmills, dedicated to the history, preservation, and continuing story of windmills in Illinois. With recent “green” energy initiatives, many associate Illinois with hundreds of wind turbines spread over thousands of acres of farmland. Others remember Illinois from a simpler time when wind-engines quietly pumped water out of the ground. But what many do not know is that during the nineteenth century, Illinois’ countryside could have easily been mistaken for Holland; the state was once home to many custom-built wind grist mills. Sadly, only four have survived, and a fifth was newly constructed in 2001.

If you have any information about any of the windmills (even those already listed), including articles, photographs, postcards, pamphlets, records, or even personal memories, please feel free to contact the WebMaster at: info@illinoiswindmills.org.

News and Updates

Model Fischer Windmill under construction

After ten years of talk, research, and planning, I am finally getting around to building a working 1/12 scale model of the Fischer Windmill. Click here for the construction progress.

Redesigned “Tourism and Links” Page

You asked for it; you got it. Illinois Windmills has branched out to include surviving custom windmills across the United States of America. The tourism page now features full-length profiles with history and photographs included wherever possible.

Redesigned “Custom Windmills” Page

Surviving and Destroyed Windmills are no longer located on two separate pages; they are all together, and with drop-down menus. Now featuring 45 custom windmills and counting!

“Architecture of Windmills”

Read how windmills differ in style from one country to the next.

“Windmills in Architecture”

Windmills have influenced the architecture of both homes and businesses alike.

“History of Illinois Wind Power”

An in-depth analysis as to why windmills were built on the prairie

“Wind Technology”

A timeline of how the windmill evolved

The five surviving custom windmills in Illinois. Clockwise from top: De Immigrant, Fulton; Fabyan Windmill, Geneva; Fischer Windmill, Elmhurst; Peotone Windmill, Peotone; and Prairie Mills Windmill, Golden. Click on a photograph to learn more about each windmill.

Collage by Tom Haskell

Mill Calendar 2009

Check out these mill-related events in your area:

February 14

Valentines’ Mystery Theater

Prairie Mills Windmill

Golden, IL

7:30 P.M.

February 21

Tom Haskell’s Illinois Windmills

Schiller Park Historical Society

Schiller Park, IL