A GALLERY OF HISTORIC WINDMILL PHOTOGRAPHS

This web page presents a gallery of fifty historic photographs of windmills in North America and elsewhere around the world, showing some of the diversity in design which these machines present. All of these photographs come from the research files of the Windmillers' Gazette. Some have never been published before. They represent the types of images you can expect to see in each issue as a subscriber.

To view any of these images, just click on the description.

1. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower at the side of a rural home during the winter, USA, ca. 1910.

2. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. One woman and three men working in an early spring garden in front of a small wooden frame house, tent, and Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower probably in eastern New Mexico, USA, ca. 1910.

3. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill at Vaughn, Washington, USA, ca. 1910; on the reverse side a handwritten caption reads, "This is our home fronting on Puget Sound, taken in the winter."

4. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower outside a boarding house at the Connor L. and L. Company sawmill in Laona, Wisconsin, USA, ca.1910; on the reverse side a handwritten inscription notes, "This is the Co.'s boarding house known as the Prune House."

5. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill mounted on a wooden tower at a farm probably in eastern Washington, USA, ca. 1910.

6. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Wagons laden with bags of grain creaking past a barn and Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower at a farm in the USA, ca. 1900.

7. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Cattle standing in front of a barn with a roof-mounted Power Aermotor open geared steel power windmill designed for operating feed grinders, corn shellers, and other small farm machines; location probably in Wisconsin, USA, ca. 1910.

8. Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Aermotor windmill, probably 602 Model oil-bath steel pumping mill, on a steel tower on a farmstead located at the foot of Mount Graham, Arizona, USA, ca. 1920.

9. Althouse-Wheeler Company, Waupun, Wisconsin. Original pattern Raymond wooden vaneless pumping windmill on steel tower at a rural home somewhere in the USA, ca. 1930.

10. Althouse-Wheeler Company, Waupun, Wisconsin. Chief open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower beside a rural home, USA, ca. 1920; the reverse side bears an inscription reading "Uncle Charley & Auntie's house on farm; it was kept up in good shape."

11. Araou Brothers, Narbonne, France. Large-diameter Araou open back-geared steel windmill on steel tower pumping for the waterworks of Sergines, France, ca. 1910.

12. Araou Brothers, Narbonne, France. Large-diameter Araou open back-geared steel windmill on steel tower pumping for the waterworks of Thiberville, France, ca. 1910.

13. Baker Manufacturing Company, Evansville, Wisconsin. Original Monitor Vaneless wooden vaneless pumping windmill on custom wooden tower on a farm perhaps in eastern Kansas, USA, ca. 1910.

14. Baker Manufacturing Company, Evansville, Wisconsin. Monitor Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower pumping water for a farmstead in the Midwest of the USA, ca. 1910.

15. Challenge Company, Batavia, Illinois. Dandy open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower beside a barn on a farm probably in Ontario, Canada, ca. 1910.

16. Challenge Company, Batavia, Illinois. Dandy open back-geared steel pumping windmill mounted beside a concrete water reservoir in Beira, Mozambique, ca. 1910.

17. Challenge Company, Batavia, Illinois. Shop of a windmiller in the USA distributing the Challenge Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmills, ca. 1910; a handwritten inscription on the reverse side reads "Edgar Thompson's place of business."

18. Challenge Company, Batavia, Illinois, and Stover Manufacturing and Engine Company, Freeport, Illinois. Challenge 27 and Samson Oil-Rite Model S oil-bath back-geared steel windmills on steel towers pumping water at the Cocklin Fish Farm, Griswold, Iowa, USA, ca. 1930.

19. Challenge Company, Batavia, Illinois. A couple in an open touring car about the leave a rural home and OK solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill in the USA, ca. 1915.

20. Currie Windmill Company, Topeka, Kansas. An open back-geared Currie windmill on wooden tower pumping water for sheep and mules on the Great Plains of the USA, ca. 1910.

21. Currie Windmill Company, Topeka, Kansas. Currie open back-geared steel pumping windmill on wooden tower on a farm near McDonald, Kansas, USA, ca. 1917.

22. Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, Beatrice, Nebraska. A threshing crew posed for a picture in front of a Dempster No. 1 Vaneless wooden vaneless pumping windmill near Herndon, Kansas, USA, ca. 1909.

23. Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, Beatrice, Nebraska. Two men posed with a draft horse in front of a barn and a Dempster Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on wooden tower, USA, ca. 1910.

24. Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, Beatrice, Nebraska. Farmstead with Dempster No. 3 Vaneless wooden vaneless pumping windmill on wooden tower in wintertime snow near Minot, North Dakota, USA, ca. 1910.

25. Duplex Manufacturing Company, Superior, Wisconsin. Superior open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower (with vane inscription as Wind Motor windmill as sold by contracting distributors) at Mott, North Dakota, USA, ca. 1910.

26. Elgin Windmill Company, Elgin, Illinois. Two-story ornamental concrete block home with Hummer wooden vaneless pumping windmill on steel tower providing its water supply, USA, ca. 1910.

27. Elgin Windmill Company, Elgin, Illinois. Three serious-looking young men posed for an autumn snapshot photograph with a Wonder oil-bath back-geared steel pumping windmill in the background, possibly in Illinois, USA, ca. 1920.

28. Fairbanks, Morse and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Eclipse solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill on wooden tower behind a house on the Great Plains, USA, ca. 1915.

29. Fairbanks, Morse and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Four women and two men posed for a warm-weather picture in front of a rural home with Eclipse solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill on wooden tower, USA, ca. 1915.

30. Fairbanks, Morse and Company, Chicago, Illinois, or A.J. Corcoran, New York, New York. Eclipse or Corcoran solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill at Ecueille, France, ca. 1910.

31. Fairbanks, Morse and Company, Chicago, Illinois, or A.J. Corcoran, New York, New York. Eclipse or Corcoran solid-wheel wooden windmill pumping water for a military garrison located at Camp de Châlons, France, ca. 1915.

32. J. Figuerola, Valencia, Spain. Figuerola open back-geared steel pumping windmill erected on a hexagonal steel tower for the National Exposition, Valencia, Spain, April-October 1910.

33. S. Freeman and Sons Manufacturing Company, Racine, Wisconsin. Freeman Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower at a farm possibly in Missouri, USA, 1916.

34. Flint and Walling Manufacturing Company, Kendallville, Indiana. Original Star solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill on steel tower at a farm in the Midwest of the USA, ca. 1910; a handwritten inscription on the reverse side reads, "If you look close at the card you will see that you can make out who we are. We have changed as time draws us nearer to the setting sun. We are all on the downward road & our cares will soon end. Think of us when this you see. Show it to our friends & if they can't tell who we are, tell them. Good-bye to all. E. & J. Jackson."

35. Flint and Walling Manufacturing Company, Kendallville, Indiana. Star Steel open back-geared steel windmill on steel tower pumping water for a "water toboggan" attraction in an amusement area at Nantes, France, ca. 1910.

36. Flint and Walling Manufacturing Company, Kendallville, Indiana. Probable Steel Star open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower at a farmstead in the Midwest region of the USA, ca. 1910.

37. Flint and Walling Manufacturing Company, Kendallville, Indiana, and Aermotor Company, Chicago, Illinois. Star Model 7 and Pumping Aermotor open back-geared steel windmills on steel towers pumping water for domestic use in urban homes at Campeche, Mexico, ca. 1915.

38. Freeport Machine Company, Freeport, Illinois. Three women and one man posed for a snapshot photograph on a wooden tower with a Stover Solid Wheel solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill, USA, ca. 1910.

39. Heller-Aller Company, Napoleon, Ohio. A threshing crew with steam traction engine in front of an open direct-stroke steel Baker Wind Engine on steel tower on a farm, USA, ca. 1910.

40. E. Lebert, Le Mans, France. Bollée Wind Engine open direct-stroke steel windmill with two parallel wheels on steel tower pumping water for the public laundry at Passy, France, ca. 1915.

41. Perkins Wind Mill Company, Mishawaka, Indiana. Perkins Solid Wheel solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill on tall wooden tower, USA, ca. 1910.

42. Perkins Wind Mill Company, Mishawaka, Indiana. Perkins Steel open direct-stroke steel pumping windmill on steel tower on a farm in the Midwest region of the USA, ca. 1915.

43. Sandwich Enterprise Company, Sandwich, Illinois. Enterprise solid-wheel wooden pumping windmill on wooden tower at Rocky Lodge, White Lake, New York, USA, ca. 1915.

44. Smith and Pomeroy Wind Mill Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Eureka Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower outside a business identified as Farmer's Supply Store somewhere in the USA, ca. 1910.

45. Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois. Ideal Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on wooden tower over the public well in Main Street, Rock City, Illinois, USA, ca. 1902.

46. Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois. A group of men who have stopped their work on a hot, dusty day for a picture also showing an Ideal Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on wooden tower with decorative "gingerbread" fretwork supporting its service platform, USA, ca. 1910.

47. Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois. Samson open back-geared steel pumping windmill on an enclosed tank/tower covered with ice and snow possibly in the state of Washington, USA, ca. 1910.

48. U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company, Batavia, Illinois. Large-diameter Halladay Standard sectional-wheel vaned wooden pumping windmill on steel tower at Alsagia Farm, possibly in New York or New Jersey, USA, ca. 1906.

49. Vereinigten Windturbinenwerke, A.G., Dresden, Germany. Herkules open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower used for land reclamation in Europe, ca. 1910.

50. Woodmanse Manufacturing Company, Freeport, Illinois. Woodmanse Steel open back-geared steel pumping windmill on steel tower behind a two-story wooden boarding house possibly in Clear Lake or Hampton, Iowa, ca. 1910; a handwritten inscription notes, "This is Mama and Opal."