Custom Windmills
Peotone Windmill
H. A. Rathje Windmill
427 West Corning Avenue
Peotone, IL 60468
Status
Open, awaiting restoration
Tours
Tours are available with written notice to the Peotone Historical Society. Also open during the annual Old Mill Fall Festival in September.
Hours
Negotiable upon tour request.
Wheelchair Accessible
No access
Website
Tower Height
57'
Sail Span
(unknown)
Uses
(1872 - 1899) Wheat
(1872 - 1899) Corn
(1872 - 1899) Feed
(1874 - 1899) Buckwheat
(1874 - 1899) Rye
Constructed
(1871 - 1872) Original
(1997 - present) Restoration
Millwrights
Frederick Rathje (Original)
Christopher Elling (Original)
City of Peotone (Restoration)
Owners
Frederick Rathje (1871 - 1874)
Henry A. Rathje (1874 - 1931)
Paul W. Rathje (1931 - ?)
Paul C. Rathje (? - 1986)
City of Peotone (1986 - present)
Honors
National Register of Historic Places
Will County Register of Historic Places
The Peotone Windmill, sails removed, awaiting restoration.
Photo by Tom Haskell
History
The Peotone Windmill sits idle without its sails or grinding machinery
for the time being as annual Old Mill festivals are held at the base of
the empty, deteriorating tower. It is almost too difficult to
imagine that this dilapidated octagonal structure was once a thriving
flour mill that put Peotone on the map. Still, the structure is
not only the tallest in town (even without sails), but also one of the
most important. Of all the custom mills built in the state, it is
one of very few examples of a German smock mill.
Fifteen years after the small farming community of Peotone was founded,
it was evident that a local mill would be an asset to the town. On
July 3, 1871, an agreement was written to construct a new windmill in
Peotone by locals Frederick Rathje and Christoph Elling. Using
local resources (oak timber and locally quarried limestone), the mill
was completed and operating just one year later. As the 1873 Atlas
of Will County describes, the mill had “two run of stones, and is doing
a successful and satisfactory business.”
After marrying Wilhelmina Luhmann in 1874, Frederick’s son, Henry A.
Rathje, acquired the windmill and established his milling business.
Henry expanded his operations to include a variety of grains; in its
prime, the Peotone Windmill ground wheat, buckwheat, rye, corn, and feed
for locals as well as travelers. Surplus flour from the miller’s
toll was stored in the west wing of the building, which was later
demolished. Rapid deterioration of the sails forced Henry to have
them removed and convert the mill to steam power; however, the higher
cost of operating the steam engine along with the decline of wheat
farming in Illinois probably made milling less than profitable and
caused Henry to stop operating the mill altogether sometime around 1889.
Competition from new technology and other area mills also undoubtedly
led to the mill’s closure. The windmill was definitely out of
commission by 1900, as it is written in the Genealogical and
Biographical Record of Will County; around this time, the stones and
other grinding machinery were removed from the mill and sold.
Henry’s son Paul W. Rathje inherited the mill and the farm after Henry’s
death in 1931; Paul C. Rathje inherited the site thereafter.
Sometime during the late 1960s, when Corning Avenue was repaved, the
road leading to the windmill was eliminated (a road once led to the mill
entrance from Corning Avenue at an angle to the northwest).
Realizing the importance of the mill to Peotone’s history, Paul C.
donated the windmill to the city of Peotone in 1982. The farmhouse
next to the mill is still home to the Rathje family.
Over the next decade, the windmill was subject to small improvement
projects; a new stage was installed, new shingles were hung, and the
village allowed the mill to be open for touring. As part of the
city’s effort to boost the image of the windmill, Peotone installed new
sails in October of 1997; fate, however, would bring them back down.
Lightning struck the mill in November, damaging one of the sails, and an
ice storm brought down another in February of 1998. The sails were
removed again soon after.
The Historical Society of Greater Peotone decided to push the idea of
fully restoring the mill in 2000 after a report was generated by Derek
Ogden on its condition. Mostly through donations, the Historical
Society is gradually funding the mill’s restoration. A second
assessment by Lucas Verbij was performed in 2006 revealing that,
curiously, the grinding would have been done on the first floor, and
that there were probably three run-of-stone.
Sources
-www.peotone.com
-www.rathjemill.net
-Historical Society of Greater Peotone (Margo Hupe)
-www.historicaerials.com
-The H. A. Rathje Mill. Historical Society of Greater Peotone, 1987
Images
Photo of the deteriorating mill (1908) courtesy James Waughon.
Postcard of the deteriorating mill (1908) courtesy Paul van den
Berg.
Postcard, colorized, of the mill (1908) courtesy Paul can den Berg.
Postcard (1900s) courtesy Paul van den Berg.
Photo showing some exterior work has been performed on the tower
(1900s) courtesy James Waughon.
Photo of a new cap and sail stocks being installed (1980s) courtesy
Peotone Historical Society.
Sketch of the mill with sails.
Entrance sign to the Village of Peotone.
Police Patch depicting the mill.
Photo looking northwest (2000s) from Will County Register.
Photo looking south (2006) by Tom Haskell
Photo looking northwest (2007) by Henryk Sadura.
Photo of the windmill (2009) by Tom
Haskell
Photo of the windmill sign (2009) by
Tom Haskell
