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Windmill Booklet 2nd Edition
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ABOUT THE COVER
A Challenge Wind Mill and Feed
Mill Company poster features the
Single Header windmill. Challenge
manufactured the Single Header
during the 1880s and 1890s. It
consisted of a large sectional wheel,
whose direction was adjusted
through the motion and power
provided by the two smaller solid
wheels behind it. There are only
two windmills of this type known to
be in existence, neither of which is
on exhibit in Batavia. Even more
rare is the Challenge Double
Header; the only known example is
on display in Salinas, California
(see inside back cover).
From the collection of the Batavia
Historical Society
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A GUIDE TO THE HISTORIC WINDMILLS
OF BATAVIA, ILLINOIS
Second Edition
Foreword by Bob Popeck
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Windmill City: A Guide to the Historic Windmills of Batavia, Illinois
Edited by Stacey L. Peterson and George H. Scheetz
Published by the Batavia Public Library
www.BataviaPublicLibrary.org
Copyright © 2008, 2013 by the Board of Library Trustees of the Batavia Public Library District
First Edition: August 2008
Second Edition: August 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0-988-51771-4 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-988-51771-4 (pbk.)
Original Windmill Drawings
Copyright © 2005 by Amy Spiders
Copyright © 2013 by Lopata Design, Mitchell Lopata, Principal
Book design by Anderson Advertising Design, Inc., David J. Anderson, President
Distributed free of charge in the Batavia area.
Copies are available by mail for $5.00 postpaid.
Inquire about wholesale rates for booksellers and not-for-profit organizations.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of this book in any manner whatsoever, in whole or in part, is
prohibited without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, address the Batavia Public Library District, 10 South Batavia Avenue, Batavia, IL
60510-2793, (630) 879-1393.
Manufactured in the United States of America by Team Concept, Carol Stream, Illinois.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI / NISO Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
INTRODUCTION
Development of American-Style Windmills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Windmills in Batavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A Visual Glossary of the American-Style Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Map of Batavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
U.S. WIND ENGINE AND PUMP COMPANY
Halladay Standard Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
U.S. Halladay Vaneless Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
U.S. Model B Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
U.S. Model D Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
U.S. Model E Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Challenge Company
Challenge OK Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Challenge Dandy Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Challenge Direct Stroke Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Challenge Steel Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Challenge Vaneless Model 1913 Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Challenge 27 Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Batavia Wind mill Company
Pearl Steel Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Continued
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Appleton Manufacturing Company
Appleton Goodhue Power 4 Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Appleton Goodhue Special Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Other Local Windmills
Eclipse Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Aermotor 702 Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Fabyan Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LEARN MORE ABOUT WINDMILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SPONSORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Challenge Double Header Windmill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Windmill Descriptions
The editors express heartfelt thanks to the following friends and organizations for their invaluable assistance.
Dr. T. Lindsay Baker, W. K. Gordon Chair in Industrial History at Tarleton State University
and Director of the W. K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas, a research facility of
Tarleton State University—a combined museum and special collections library
Professor Baker’s book, A Field Guide to American Windmills, and various issues of his
newsletter, Windmillers’ Gazette, were the key sources consulted by the editors. In addition,
Professor Baker graciously read the work in progress, offered valuable suggestions, and shared
numerous interesting facts about the windmills, which the editors greatly appreciate.
Bob Popeck and Francine McGuire-Popeck, of Batavia, Illinois—for contributing windmill
facts and local windmill lore, for their careful reading of the work in progress, and for their
unparalleled enthusiasm for Batavia’s windmill history
Carla L. Hill, museum director, Batavia Depot Museum and Gustafson Research Center, a
joint venture of the Batavia Park District and the Batavia Historical Society
Kane County Forest Preserve District—for information on the Fabyan windmill
Chuck Jones, of Flint Hills Windmill and Pump Service, Benton, Kansas—for identifying
Batavia’s Aermotor windmill as an Aermotor 702
Kyle Hohmann, of Batavia, Illinois—for contributing to the description of the
Pearl steel windmill
Harden Foundation, of Salinas, California—for permission to use a photograph of its rare,
Batavia-built Double Header power mill
Any errors in typography or fact belong, not to the contributors, but to the editors.
Original Windmill Drawings
Amy Spiders; www.geocities.ws/amyspiders
Lopata Design; www.lopatadesign.com
Book Design: David J. Anderson, Anderson Advertising Design, Inc.; www.andersondesign.net
Sponsors
The editors are pleased to acknowledge the kind support of this book’s sponsors, who are recognized
in a special section of this publication.
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FOREWORD
Batavia, Illinois, was known as the “windmill capital of the world” in the old times. Just how did
such a small town get such a big title?
In 1854, Daniel Halladay started the first windmill factory in the United States. Little did
Halladay know that from that date, the pages of our history books would be permanently
etched with the growth of the American windmill industry from the simple harnessing of the
power of the wind into an industry that changed life for all of us.
When the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company moved its manufacturing plant to Batavia in
1863, Batavia found its place on the map. Soon other companies followed suit, and Batavia
supported six windmill companies that produced hundreds of windmills annually. All of these
companies shipped their mills near and far. Many helped expand the railroad industry in its
role in building the western part of the United States, by supplying watering stations every 80
to 100 miles for the steam engines traveling across our great country.
Batavia is proud of its history, and with that pride has come a wonderful display of our heritage
in the many authentic historic windmills on display throughout our community. In 1994, the
idea arose to have a windmill or two on display to show a part of Batavia’s past, and the project
soon grew in numbers. The City’s display features only Batavia-built windmills that were
acquired under the theme of “Bringing ’Em Home.” As the word traveled that the City was
trying to build an historic windmill display, many collectors went on the search for more
Batavia-built windmills to add to the exhibit. Private donations from citizens and civic groups
helped fund this project, so that no tax dollars were ever spent on the purchase of any of the
displayed windmills.
In the following pages you will find a tour of Batavia’s windmill history as it grew into a
booming industry worldwide by creating simple machines to harness the power of the wind to
pump water, power machinery, and shape our way of life.
Bob Popeck
Batavia Windmill Enthusiast
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Introduction
Development of American-Style Windmills
The first windmill company in Batavia came into existence as a result of activities by Daniel
Halladay of Connecticut. His invention of the first commercially successful self-governing
windmill in 1854 was a significant development in windmill design.
The key change was the way in which the windmill was governed, or regulated. Earlier
European-style windmills required constant monitoring by a miller, who manually adjusted the
mill according to wind speed and direction.
Halladay’s invention of a self-regulating windmill meant that the windmill was able to control
its own speed and direction. Self-regulation mechanisms automatically adjusted the wheel or
blade angle to maintain near-constant speed and power in varying winds without an operator’s
attention. Further, these windmills, used worldwide, were designed for easy assembly,
operation, and maintenance using only simple hand tools.
Another important change was the purpose for which windmills were used. In Europe,
windmills were most often used to grind, or mill, grain. In the United States, a windmill’s
primary purpose was to pump water. As a result, the development of a self-regulating windmill
was essential to the development of both agriculture and transportation throughout the United
States during its westward expansion.
Windmills in Batavia
In 1863, the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company of Chicago purchased the Halladay Wind
Mill Company and moved the manufacturing plant to Batavia, which was closer to its market.
Ultimately, six companies produced windmills in Batavia, Illinois, from 1863 to 1951—
U.S.Wind Engine and Pump Company, Challenge Company, Benjamin Danforth, Batavia
Wind Mill Company, Appleton Manufacturing Company, and Snow Manufacturing
Company—which inspired the sobriquets “Windmill City” and “Windmill Capital of the
World.”
For many years, Batavia’s windmill industry was just a memory. Then, in 1969, Harold O.
Patterson, president of the Batavia Historical Society, found an out-of-use windmill at the
Wallace farm on Raddant Road. This Model F steel windmill, the last model manufactured by
the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company, was disassembled and moved to storage.
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In 1978, the year that Boo Boo Days became the Windmill City Festival, the Batavia Historical
Society put this windmill in working order and mounted it on a 40-foot tower on the Island, on
the eastern edge of the Houston Street pond across from the Batavia Depot Museum (as
shown in the photograph on the facing page). It was dedicated by the Batavia Historical Society
in September 1979 to commemorate Batavia’s industrial past. This windmill eventually fell into
disrepair and was taken down during construction of the Batavia Riverwalk.
In 1994, Bob Popeck and Francine McGuire-Popeck led an initiative to bring more windmills
home to Batavia—and this new project grew in numbers. In 2013, a total of 18 windmills—
including 15 built in Batavia—are on display, including a rare Pearl Steel model produced by
the Batavia Wind Mill Company. An additional three Batavia-built windmills now await
installation.
The following pages provide descriptions of the Batavia-built windmills, organized first by
company, beginning with Batavia’s first windmill manufacturer, and then chronologically within
each company. This section concludes with three prominent Batavia-area windmills that were
not manufactured in Batavia. Two examples are American-style windmills—an Aermotor,
manufactured in Chicago, and an Eclipse, manufactured in Beloit, Wisconsin. The final
windmill is the Fabyan windmill, the only local example of a European-style windmill. A map
shows the location of each windmill.
Several buildings from the factory complexes of the three large, nationally known windmill
manufacturers are still in use today. Both the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company and the
Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill Company were successfully redeveloped for office and/or
commercial use, and the Appleton Manufacturing Company is now the home of the Batavia
Government Center.
Proud of its heritage, Batavia hosted the International Windmillers’ Trade Fair in 1996 and
2012. In September 2013, the Batavia Public Library presented the first-ever Batavia Windmill
Symposium: “Batavia’s Place in Windmill History.”
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Kevin Popeck
This unique image captures
Batavia’s three major
windmill companies. The
U.S. Wind Engine Model F
steel windmill in the foreground is flanked by the
Challenge Company
smokestack (left) and the
Appleton Manufacturing
Company.
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Wheel arms
A VISUAL GLOSSARY OF THE
AMERICAN-STYLE WINDMILL
Vane (or tail)
Blades
Solid wheel
(or fixed wheel)
Wind engine
Side vane
Platform
SOLID-WHEEL WINDMILL WITH VANE
Blades— Individual pieces of wood or metal that make up
the sections of the wheel.
Solid wheel (or fixed wheel) — Catches the wind to
operate the mill and controls its speed by adjusting its
angle to the wind. Sections of a solid wheel do not fold,
but instead remain fixed.
Platform — Provides an area on which to stand to do
maintenance on the wind engine.
Tower
Side vane — Regulates the wheel’s speed by pushing the
wheel away from increasing winds.
Tower— Supports the wind engine and wheel; may vary
in height depending on its location in respect to buildings
and trees.
Vane (or tail) — Points the wheel into the wind. On a
solid-wheel windmill, the vane is considered the back
of the windmill.
Wind engine— Converts the motion from the turning
wheel into an up-and-down motion to operate a device at
ground level (e.g., a water pump).
Wheel arms — Support the blades to form a solid wheel.
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Wheel section
Windmill
weight
Governor
weight
Platform
SECTIONAL-WHEEL WINDMILL
WITHOUT VANE (VANELESS)
Governor weight — Slides on a bar; adjusts to
control the opening and closing of the wheel sections
by the force of the wind blowing on the wheel.
Amy Spiders
Blades
Wheel section— Consists of multiple blades that catch the wind
to operate the mill; the wheel is divided into sections that open and
close similar to an umbrella, to regulate the speed of the windmill.
Windmill weight — Counterbalances the wind engine; directs
and points the wheel into the wind; identifies the manufacturer by
its shape. On a sectional-wheel windmill, the windmill weight is
considered the front of the windmill.
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U.S. Halladay Standard
—Site to be determined
2
U.S. Model B
3
U.S. Model D
4
U.S. Model E
5
Challenge OK
6
Challenge OK
7
Challenge Dandy
8
10
Challenge
Direct Stroke
Challenge
Direct Stroke
Challenge
Direct Stroke
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Challenge Steel
12
Challenge Vaneless
Model 1913
13
Challenge 27
14
Challenge 27
15
Pearl Steel
16
17
Appleton
Goodhue Power 4
Appleton
Goodhue Special
18
Eclipse
19
Aermotor 702
20
Fabyan Windmill
9
8
10
Windmill Location
#
Future Location
9
18
Harrison St.
U.S. Halladay Vaneless
19
6
Pitz Ln.
1
#
Mallory Ave.
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Washington St.
20
5
13
11
17
12
15
7
1
14
4
8
Houston St.
River St.
3
2
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U.S. HALLADAY
STANDARD WINDMILL
Circa 1860s–1920s
Manufactured by:
U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company
Location on Map:
Site to be determined
Donated by:
Dale Stigers of Milan, Illinois
Owned and Maintained by:
City of Batavia
The Halladay Standard holds an important
place in windmill history. Daniel Halladay
invented and patented this self-governing
windmill in 1854. It was the first
commercially successful American
windmill that could control its own speed
of operation.
Self-governing windmills increase or decrease
their surface area exposed to the wind in
response to its velocity. The windmill’s wheel
is divided into sections that open and close in
a motion similar to that of an umbrella. The
Halladay Standard’s sectional wheel was
developed in the mid-1860s, in a change from
the original design, which used large paddleshaped blades. This windmill’s large red,
white, and blue wooden vane keeps the mill
facing into the wind.
Halladay Standard windmills were available in
a variety of sizes. The wheels on “farm size”
mills ranged from 10 to 14 feet in diameter.
The company also produced “railroad size”
Halladay Standard windmills, whose wheels
ranged from 14 to 30 feet in diameter.
In 1854, the Connecticut manufacturer
Halladay, McCray and Company— soon
renamed the Halladay Wind Mill Company—
first manufactured the original style of this
windmill. Daniel Halladay, Henry McCray,
and John Burnham were partners in the firm.
By 1857, Burnham had moved to Chicago
and established the U.S. Wind Engine and
Pump Company to distribute the windmills to
the Midwestern and Great Plains markets.
In 1863, the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump
Company purchased the Halladay Wind Mill
Company and moved the manufacturing
plant to Batavia. The company manufactured
windmills in Batavia until the plant closed
during World War II.
Halladay Standard windmills are uncommon
today, but once they were used widely
throughout the Midwest and the Great Plains.
A 10-foot diameter Halladay Standard windmill
will be placed in Batavia in the future.
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U.S. HALLADAY
VANELESS WINDMILL
Circa 1880–1890
Manufactured by:
U.S. Wind Engine and
Pump Company
Location on Map:
1
Amy Spiders
Donated by:
The family of Arthur W. Swanson
(1907–1996) in his memory;
Swanson was a secondgeneration employee of the
U.S. Wind Engine and Pump
Company, as well as mayor of
Batavia (1961–1969)
City of Batavia
The Halladay Vaneless windmill is very similar to the Halladay Standard, except that it uses a
counterweight rather than a vane to turn the wheel toward the wind. Vaneless mills, like this
one, turn behind the tower while an iron counterweight balances the weight of the wheel so that
it can swivel easily at the top of the tower to face changing wind directions. The Halladay
Vaneless windmill uses a star-shaped iron counterweight.
On this mill, through centrifugal force, the sections of the wheel pivot to regulate their surface
area exposed to the wind and in this way govern the speed at which the wheel turns.
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Circa 1912–1920s
Manufactured by:
Pump Company
Location on Map:
Amy Spiders
U.S. MODEL B WINDMILL
2
Batavia Enterprises, Inc.
The U.S. Model B is a back-geared steel windmill with a wheel made of curved metal blades.
The Model B uses maple or babbitt bearings (a combination of lead, copper, tin, and other
metals) that require regular manual lubrication. When the company developed a self-oiling
steel windmill in the mid-1920s, it took the place of the Model B.
This windmill was designed for use on ranches, so it was built to withstand strong winds.
It was most commonly used in the American Southwest.
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U.S. MODEL D WINDMILL
Circa 1910s
Manufactured by:
Pump Company
Location on Map:
3
Amy Spiders
Batavia Enterprises, Inc.
The U.S. Model D is a vaneless sectional-wheel windmill that uses a circular iron disc to
counterbalance the weight of its wheel so that it swivels easily at the top of the tower to face
changing wind directions. The force of the wind causes the wooden sections of the wheel to
pivot away from increasing velocities and thus govern its rate of operation.
The Model D was the last pattern of wooden vaneless windmills produced by the U.S. Wind
Engine and Pump Company. The firm manufactured the Model D through the 1910s but
discontinued its production as sales lagged following the crash in agricultural commodity
prices following World War I.
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Circa 1900s–1920s
Manufactured by:
Pump Company
Location on Map:
Amy Spiders
U.S. MODEL E WINDMILL
4
Donated by:
The Swanson family:
Arthur, Marian, Dennis,
Wayne, and Karyl
City of Batavia
The striking Model E windmill greets visitors to Batavia’s Government Center and the
Riverwalk. The U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company based this windmill’s design on the
Eclipse windmill, a very popular mill that was developed in 1867 by a company in Beloit,
Wisconsin. When that company's patent rights expired in 1901, many other manufacturers
began selling almost identical models. Its red, white, and blue paint colors typify the
ornamentation that the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company used on its mills.
This particular 14-foot diameter Model E windmill was shipped from Batavia to a ranch in
Campo, Colorado, where it pumped water from a depth of 600 feet. After many years of use, it
fell into disrepair until its restoration by a windmill collector in Lamar, Colorado. He placed the
restored windmill near the Amtrak railway station in Lamar, where a passenger on a train
spotted it and brought it to the attention of Bob Popeck in Batavia. After long negotiation,
Popeck arranged the return of the windmill to Batavia.
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CHALLENGE OK WINDMILL
Circa 1885-1914
Manufactured by:
Challenge Wind Mill and
Feed Mill Company
Location on Map:
5
Donated by:
Batavia Historical Society
City of Batavia
Location on Map:
6
Amy Spiders
Bank of America
In 1885, the Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill Company began manufacturing the OK
windmill, its first solid-wheel (non-folding) wooden windmill. The company developed this
model in response to market pressures to produce a more affordable windmill. The OK
became popular throughout the Midwest and the Great Plains.
The smaller side vane, parallel to the wheel, pushes the wheel away from increasing winds to
regulate its speed of operation, while a weight pulls the wheel back to face the wind more
squarely when its velocity decreases. As a direct-stroke windmill, one revolution of the wheel on
the OK produces one reciprocating stroke of the pump underground at the water table. All the
older mills like the OK required owners to climb the towers to lubricate the bearings regularly,
usually about once a week.
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CHALLENGE
DANDY WINDMILL
Circa 1891–1920s
Manufactured by:
Challenge Wind Mill and
Feed Mill Company
Location on Map:
7
Donated by:
The family of Arlene J. Nick
(1943–1999) in her memory
City of Batavia
Introduced in 1891, the Challenge
Dandy was the first steel windmill
produced by the Challenge Wind
Mill and Feed Mill Company. The
company developed this steel windmill in response to the all-metal windmill manufactured by a
competitor, the Aermotor Company of Chicago. Initially the Dandy was available either painted
or galvanized, but soon only the galvanized model was available.
The off-center wheel on the Dandy automatically inclines away from increasing winds. Then
the weight on a metal lever through linkage draws the wheel back to face the wind more
directly when its velocity diminishes. This gives the mill a steady rate of operation and protects
it from destruction by high winds.
The Dandy was one of several windmills that Challenge displayed at the 1893 World’s
Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was a very popular mill that was used not only
throughout the United States but also exported overseas. Challenge continued to produce
Dandy windmills even after the later development of the Challenge Steel windmill.
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CHALLENGE DIRECT
STROKE WINDMILL
Circa 1900s–1920s
Manufactured by:
Challenge Company
Location on Map:
8
Donated by:
Batavia Jaycees and
Jerry Rundle
Batavia Public Library
Amy Spiders
Location on Map:
The Challenge Direct Stroke wooden mill replaced
the older Challenge OK solid-wheel mill in the
company product line. It could be purchased with
either a wooden or steel wheel, depending on the
preference of the customer. Its improved bearings
required less attention from owners than those on the
older Challenge OK mills.
9
Donated by:
George Hanus and Aetna
Development Corporation
Inland American
Real Estate Trust, Inc.
Location on Map:
10
Monroe Group
The wheel on the Challenge Direct Stroke mill is set
slightly off center. Consequently, this enables it to
automatically incline away from increasing winds.
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Circa 1906–1927
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CHALLENGE STEEL
WINDMILL
Manufactured by:
Challenge Company
Location on Map:
11
Donated by:
Batavia Township
City of Batavia
The Challenge Steel windmill was the top-of-the-line Challenge windmill from 1906
through the end of World War I. Despite its once widespread use, this model is now rare.
The Challenge Steel is back-geared, with an internal gear mechanism, unlike other Challenge
windmills. This design protected the gears from the elements and allowed more gear teeth to
be engaged simultaneously. On this mill a small side vane pushes the wheel out of high winds
by centrifugal force to protect it from destruction. The Challenge Steel windmill was retired
when the self-oiling Challenge 27 was introduced in 1927.
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CHALLENGE VANELESS
MODEL 1913 WINDMILL
Circa 1913
Manufactured by:
Challenge Company
Location on Map:
12
Donated by:
Batavia Jaycees and
Thomas A. Mair
Amy Spiders
City of Batavia
The key identifying feature of this rare Challenge Vaneless Model 1913 is the distinctive
spear-shaped cast-iron counterweight that bears the words “Model 1913.” The decorative
iron piece counterbalances the weight of the wheel. The spear-shaped weight came in various
sizes that correponded to the diameter of the wheel.
The sections of the wheel pivot to vary the amount of their surface area exposed to changing
wind velocities, giving the mill a steady rate of operation. The wooden blades were painted
white with red or green tips.
The Challenge Vaneless windmill design first appeared in 1912 and continued through the
mid-1920s. It was sold throughout the Midwest and Great Plains.
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Circa 1927–1940s
Manufactured by:
Challenge Company
Location on Map:
Amy Spiders
CHALLENGE 27 WINDMILL
13
Donated by:
The family of Sarah K.
“Sadie” Layland (1911–1992)
in her memory, and the
Windmill Herald
City of Batavia
Location on Map:
14
Challenge Properties
The popular and durable Challenge 27 was the result of a long and difficult process for the
Challenge Company in its efforts to design a self-oiling replacement for the Challenge Steel
windmill. The first attempt was the Challenge 24, which was manufactured only briefly. The
next model was the ill-fated Challenge 26, which had a lubrication defect that forced the
company to recall it. In 1927, the Challenge Company introduced the Challenge 27, which
proved to be one of the most successful American windmills of the 20th century.
It is a self-lubricating windmill with curved steel blades. The vane features a large and
distinctive red letter “C” that begins the wording “Challenge 27.” Challenge 27 windmills were
used throughout the United States and overseas, and some remain in use even today.
The Challenge 27 (map location 13) is currently the only windmill in Batavia that
pumps water.
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Pearl Steel
Windmill
Circa 1890s–1900s
Manufactured by:
Batavia Wind Mill
Company
Location on Map:
15
Donated by:
Batavia Historical Society
Lopata Design
City of Batavia
Batavia Wind Mill Company existed
from the 1890s to the 1900s. This
small company manufactured six
different windmill models—the
Pearl steel, Pearl wood, Batavia power mill, Revolution, Snow, and Success.
Francis C. Snow emigrated from England to America in 1853, and lived in Batavia from the
mid-1850s until at least 1870. In 1880, Snow lived in Pardee, Kansas, a now-defunct town
which, in the 1880s, was the location of a windmill company called F. C. Snow. By the 1890s,
Snow had returned to Batavia, where he served as president and treasurer of the Batavia Wind
Mill Company. During this same period, his son Thomas Snow was the president of the
Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill Company (from 1887 until his death in 1903). Since
Batavia Wind Mill Company was located on North River Street at the foot of Church Street—
the location of the Challenge company—it appears that the castings for the Batavia Wind Mill
Company windmills were made at the Challenge foundry.
The Pearl steel windmill on display in Batavia has an 8-foot wheel and was used on a farm near
Albany, Minnesota.
22
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Circa 1890s–1910s
Page 31
Amy Spiders
APPLETON GOODHUE
power 4 WINDMILL
4:02 PM
Manufactured by:
Company
Location on Map:
16
Donated by:
Browning Ferris Industries
Golden Corral
The Goodhue Power Mill could be used, not only to pump water, but also to provide power to
operate feed grinders, wood saws, corn shellers, threshers, and fodder cutters. Appleton
manufactured the machines that could be attached to the windmill to adapt it for various uses,
including the “Prize” Grinder, the “Common Sense” Wood Saw, the “Badger” Corn Sheller,
and the “New Hero” Fodder Cutter. In a good wind, the windmill had the capacity to operate
two machines simultaneously. Farmers reported that they were able to operate a grinder and
stalk cutter at the same time, or to operate the grinder while the windmill pumped water.
Appleton guaranteed that its 13-foot mill had a capacity of grinding 5–10 bushels per hour.
Power windmills could be placed on a mast on top of a building to power the machines inside,
or could be erected on a standard windmill tower.
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APPLETON GOODHUE
SPECIAL WINDMILL
Circa 1902–1910s
Manufactured by:
Company
Location on Map:
17
Windmill Donated by:
Browning Ferris Industries
Tower Donated by:
The Hitzeroth family of
Plato Center, Illinois
Amy Spiders
City of Batavia
The Goodhue Special is named for the Goodhue Wind Engine Company, a windmill
manufacturer based in St. Charles in the late 1800s. The Van Nortwick family relocated the
Appleton Manufacturing Company from Wisconsin to Illinois in 1894. In 1895, the Appleton
company acquired the Goodhue company and continued manufacturing Goodhue-style
windmills in the now-defunct hamlet of Van Nortwick, north of Batavia, until a fire destroyed
the plant in November 1900. The Appleton Manufacturing Company then moved to Batavia,
where the Goodhue Special was built. The Batavia Government Center is housed in what
remains of the Appleton plant.
This windmill features the Appleton-Goodhue colors that led to the marketing slogan “the mill
with a good hue… red, white, and blue.” Though produced in large numbers and used on
farms throughout the Midwest, the Goodhue Special is a rare survivor today.
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Circa 1888–1930s
Manufactured by:
Fairbanks, Morse and
Company
Location on Map:
Lopata Design
Eclipse Windmill
18
Portillo Restaurant Group
In 1867, Reverend Leonard H.Wheeler
of Beloit,Wisconsin, developed a solidwheel windmill design, which became
one of the nation’s most popular
wooden windmill models.
In 1873, the Wheeler family, along with
investors, formed the Eclipse Wind Mill
Company. In 1894, after a 14-year partnership, the Beloit-based company was purchased by
Fairbanks, Morse and Company of Chicago.
The Eclipse windmill now on display in Batavia, which was manufactured shortly after the turn of
the 20th century, is a regular-pattern Eclipse windmill with a 10-foot wheel. Regular-pattern Eclipse
windmills were available in wheel sizes ranging from 81⁄2 to 16 feet.The Eclipse windmill’s simple
design worked so well that the company made few adjustments to it for 50 years, from 1888 to
the 1930s.
In 1901, patent rights for the Eclipse windmill entered the public domain, and many competing
companies began manufacturing nearly identical windmills with interchangeable parts. For example,
the Model E, manufactured by the U.S.Wind Engine and Pump Company of Batavia, was
patterned closely after the Eclipse.
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AERMOTOR 702 WINDMILL
Circa 1933–1960s
Manufactured by:
Aermotor Company
Location on Map:
19
Donated by:
Tanguay-Burke-Stratton
Amy Spiders
RREEF Management Co.
The story of Aermotor Company
begins, in part, in Batavia. In 1882,
Thomas O. Perry, an engineer at U.S.
Wind Engine and Pump Company, began conducting experiments using a wind machine in a
controlled environment to test the effectiveness of various windmill designs. The company,
however, refused to use the resulting engineering recommendations, and Perry left the
company. In 1888, he co-founded Aermotor Company in Chicago. Aermotor windmills set the
standard for steel windmills, and many other manufacturers imitated their design. Aermotor
windmills were popular because they were economical and long-lasting. Within 20 years of the
company’s inception, Aermotor windmills accounted for approximately half of the country’s
windmill sales. President Lyndon B. Johnson owned several Aermotor 702 windmills on his
Texas ranch.
Batavia’s Aermotor 702 windmill was relocated from its original spot on the William Moore
farm in Batavia, near Western Avenue and McKee Street. An old Standard Oil advertisement
showed this exact windmill at its original Batavia location.
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Page 35
Circa 1875–1876
Built by: Louis Backhaus and
Friedrich Brockmann
Location on Map:
Amy Spiders
FABYAN WINDMILL
20
Kane County Forest
Preserve District
The Fabyan windmill is the only
European-style windmill in the Batavia
area. It was built in 1875–1876 by
German craftsmen Louis Backhaus
and Friedrich Brockmann in York
Center, Illinois, on a site in presentday Lombard.
Colonel George Fabyan purchased the
windmill in 1915 for approximately
$8,000. A crew dismantled the windmill and moved it to Fabyan’s Riverbank estate, where a
Danish millwright named Rasmussen oversaw its reconstruction. The process took 19 months.
In 2005, the Kane County Forest Preserve District rededicated the windmill after its restoration
by Lucas Verbij, a Dutch millwright.
As a European-style windmill, its operation requires the work of a miller, who attaches canvas
sails to the windmill’s sail bars to catch the wind. The miller adjusts the mill to face the wind,
and to keep the sails turning at a safe and efficient speed.
The inside of the Fabyan windmill contains equipment to grind and store grain.While the basement
contains a bakery, it is unclear whether the oven was used, due to a design flaw in the oven flue.
This landmark, 5-story smock mill with a stage, which stands 68 feet tall, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places (as “Dutch Mill”; 79000843) on 4 June 1979—and was
featured on a U.S. postage stamp in 1980.
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Page 37
LEARN MORE ABOUT WINDMILLS
Books and Other Sources
American Windmills: An Album of Historic Photographs by T. Lindsay Baker. Norman,
Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.
Blades in the Sky:Windmilling through the Eyes of B. H.“Tex” Burdick by T. Lindsay Baker.
Lubbock, Tex.: Texas Tech University Press, 1992.
“Fabyan Windmill” [brochure]. Geneva, Ill.: Kane County Forest Preser ve District, n.d.
A Field Guide to American Windmills by T. Lindsay Baker. Norman, Okla.: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1985.
A Guide to United States Patents for Windmills and Wind Engines, 1793–1950. Compiled by
T. Lindsay Baker. Edited by A. Clyde Eide. Watford, UK: International
Molinological Society, 2004.
The Wind at Work: An Activity Guide to Windmills by Gretchen Woelfle. Chicago: Chicago
Review Press, 1997.
Windmill Weights by Milt Simpson. Newark, N.J.: Johnson & Simpson Graphic
Designers, 1985. Published in association with the Museum of American Folk Art,
New York.
Windmill Weights: Pictured—Identified by Rick Nidey and Don Lawrence. Boise City,
Okla.: Don Lawrence, 1996.
Windmillers’ Gazette: A Journal for the Preservation of America’s Wind Power History &
Heritage. Quarterly; Winter 1982—. Edited by T. Lindsay Baker. P.O. Box 507, Rio
Vista, TX 76093-0507. www.windmillersgazette.org
Windmills and Windmill Weights by Donald E. Sites. North Benton, Ohio: O’Brock
Windmills; Meade, Kan.: Friesen Windmill & Supply, 1994.
Windmills of the West: Rural America’s Most Important Invention by David R. Stoecklein and
Jack Goddard. Hailey, Idaho: Stoecklein Photography & Publishing, 2009.
Continued
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Research Centers, Museums, and Organizations
Batavia Public Librar y; Batavia, Illinois
www.BataviaPublicLibrar y.org
Batavia Histor y
www.BataviaHistor y.org
Batavia Depot Museum and Gustafson Research Center; Batavia, Illinois
www.BataviaHistoricalSociety.org
Mid-America Windmill Museum; Kendallville, Indiana
www.midamericawindmillmuseum.com
American Wind Power Center and Windmill Museum; Lubbock, Texas
www.windmill.com
Shattuck Windmill Museum; Shattuck, Oklahoma
www.shattuckwindmillmuseum.org
International Molinological Society
www.molinology.org
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Page 39
(630) 879-3480
www.BataviaPublicLibrary.org/Foundation
ONLINE DONATIONS: www.MyBatavia.org
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Page 40
Illinois Public Library Per Capita Grant
awarded by the Illinois State Library,
a Department of the Office of the Secretary of State
JESSE WHITE
Secretary of State
& State Librarian
32
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Page 41
(630) 879-8220
www.BataviaPublicLibrary.org/Friends
33
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Page 42
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Page 43
Thank you for your interest in our history.
Where Tradition and Vision Meet.
(630) 454-2000
www.cityofbatavia.net
35
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4:02 PM
Page 44
Since 1959, offering family style fun for everyone! From go-karts to
roller skates and batting cages to laser tag, come out and have some
FUNWAY FUN!
Funway Ultimate Entertainment Center
(630) 879-8717 • www.funway.com
Batavia Enterprises, Inc., a property management
company in Batavia, manages properties throughout the
Fox River Valley, including sites in Batavia, St. Charles,
Geneva, West Chicago, and Elburn.
We offer new and historical buildings for lease in all five
categories of the rental market: residential, commercial,
office, warehouse, and manufacturing.
Building on Tradition for over 50 years
36
140 First Street • Batavia, IL 60510 • (630) 879-3680 • www.bataviaenterprises.com
9/12/13
4:02 PM
Page 45
History occurs on a daily basis.
155 Houston Street • (630) 406-5274
www.BataviaHistoricalSociety.org
www.BataviaParks.org
www.BataviaHistory.org
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Page 46
Batavia’s collection of historic windmills was designated as an Historic Mechanical Engineering
Landmark in 2013 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Mechanical Engineering Heritage Collection
Self-Regulating Windmills,1863–1951
Landmark # 254 (Batavia, Illinois)
Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks are existing artifacts or systems representing a
significant mechanical engineering technology. They generally are the oldest extant, last
surviving examples typical of a period, or they are machines with some unusual distinction.
Landmarks, sites, and collections of historic importance to mechanical engineering are
designated by ASME through its History and Heritage Landmarks Program, which began in
1971. Landmark status indicates that the artifact, site, or collection represents a significant step
forward in the evolution of mechanical engineering and is the best known example of its kind.
A plaque is presented for display, a commemorative brochure is prepared, and a roster is kept
to promote long-term recognition and preservation efforts.
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CHALLENGE DOUBLE HEADER WINDMILL
Harden Foundation
The last known surviving example
of a Double Header power mill,
manufactured in Batavia by the
Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill
Company in 1892, is located on the
Harden Estate in Salinas, California.
According to T. Lindsay Baker in
A Field Guide to American Windmills,
“the Challenge Double Header is one
of the most impressive of all the
windmills ever produced in
America.” Designed for power
purposes, this mill employs two large
wind wheels, fore and aft its head,
to produce the actual power, and
two small, solid wheels on either
side to keep the two large wheels
into the wind.
The large wheels, which rotate in opposite directions, are of the sectional design, with sections
of blades pivoting out of high winds to regulate the speed of the wheels. The Harden
Foundation (www.HardenFoundation.org) restored the rare Challenge Double Header
windmill and historic mill buildings on the Harden Estate. This particular Double Header,
with sectional wheels that are 30 feet in diameter, supplied power to operate millstones, a grain
elevator, water pump, and woodworking shop.
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