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How the Windmill Won the American West

Nebraska windmill
Thomas Wilmer

The iconic windmill has been a part of western landscape since the mid 1800s.

Tanya Meadows at the American Wind and Power Center in Lubbock, Texas, and Jim Stark at the Kregel Windmill Factory Museum in Nebraska City, Nebraska share their passion for the iconic windmill that transformed the American West. 

It was the windmill that allowed settlers to farm and ranch large tracks of land. And it was also the windmill that allowed trains to travel across the empty plains and mountains.

A steam engine needed to refuel their water tanks every 20 or 30 miles, and it was the windmills that pumped the water from wells to the water towers at the depots and refueling spots.

windmills at American Wind and Power Center
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Windmills on display at American Wind and Power Center in Lubbock, Texas

The American Wind and Power Center, also known fondly as the Windmill Museum showcases more than 100 historic windmills.

There's also historic signage, ephemera, and photographic displays that showcase the vital role of the windmill. 

At one time more than 700 U.S. windmill manufacturers supplied ranchers, farmers and railroads. Today, just two windmill manufacturers remain in business.

The circa-1903 Kregel windmill factory remains intact exactly as it stood back in the mid-1930s.

Kregel windmill factory
Credit Library of Congress
Kregel Windmill Factory, Nebraska City

Kregel’s windmills were regarded by some as superior to the leader of the pack—the ubiquitous and almost bulletproof Aermotor—which is still manufactured today in San Angelo, Texas.

A handful of Kregel’s "Eli" windmills are still pumping water on farms and ranches around Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota.

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art

You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR Podcast travel show Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: 

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Culture Editor @360magazine

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Underwriting support provided by Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Credit Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Underwriting support provided by Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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