The Windmills at Riverside Farm Park

You can also see America's Heartland TV Episode #722, featuring The Windmills at Riverside Farm, by visiting the TV series website at http://www.americasheartland.org/episodes/index.htm .

We agree with those who believe that individuals that earn anything from such great historical treasures are obligated to give something back to the community for their enjoyment! That is exactly what we are doing with the creation of our windmill park. If you would like to join the group of donors, noted below, who have been gracious enough to assist in our efforts, you can make an on-line contribution by clicking the donation icon below.

All pictures are protected by copyright laws and may not be used without the written permission of Windmill-Part.com or the original source.

Narrative updated 5/5/13.

With our Grand Opening & Dedication far behind us we continue to make additions to our park. Our goal is to have something new and unique each time you return for an additional visit. We appear to be on track.

It has never been our intention to have the largest collection nor one consisting of one of a kind mills. There are plenty of others out there driven by such goals. Consistent with the overall intention of our windmill websites, we are focused on the casual collector and restorer and hope to create and assist entry level endeavers.

Over the past 7 years much has been achieved. The land was secured, the park meadow cleared, perimeter fence installed and a small reception building, large display barn & storage shed completed. Gathering and restoring our collection has been a huge group effort. Installations began many months ago on the first mills being moved to the property. All but 4 recently erected towers have complete mills on them bringing mills on display and in our collection to 73. We started installing the heads on 4/19/09 and had the first 26 complete mills in place as of 7/27/09. Michael Porterfield of Praire Legends Windmills in Choctaw, OK was instrumental in our stretch run progress. Our first indoor display facility is complete with 5 short towers erected inside that recieved their mills in early June 2010. A number of windmill weights and rare tail vanes are hung for display, and we have hung a large group of vintage pictures and windmill collectables that are also available for viewing. We completed clearing an additional 1 acre in Oct. '09 making room for our A-612, 8ft Xray, 6ft Dempster #7, and 5ft Star 37 mills. Those mills & towers are now erected with the Zephyr & Xray spinning in the breeze daily.

Starting in October 2010 our efforts focused on clearing some new ground for additional mills. By early November the clearing had been completed and over the next 3 weeks towers for our I.X.L., OK and very early Eclipse were finished and erected. Restorations of the OK & I.X.L. are long since done and those mills are on their towers. The 8ft I.X.L. was donated by the late Dan Andreason the week before his passing. He would be proud of how his family owned windmill turned out as it was expertly restored by our local team with numerous parts from Dan Benjamin of Windmill R Us. Our local team did equally an outstanding job on the 10ft wood wheel OK sporting new wheel and vane provided by Loren Lockman of Double L Windmills. These two mills, joined by our U.S.W.E. Model B and 1873 Eclipse, flank our 2nd indoor display barn now complete and open.

One of our summer 2012 goals was to have all our restored mills erected in time for our 6th Annual WindmillFest. We achieved this benchmark, to a certain degree, with a week to spare making our annual gathering that much more enjoyable for everyone in attendance. We had a record turn out for this yearly get together with RSVP'd visitors from MI, OH, TX, IL, TN, MD & CO on top of local supporters. The food and beverages were outstanding! We'll set a similar interim goal for our 2013 gathering so as to have a new group of additions to show. We hope you might join us for a future event.

Focused then turned to final assembly of the mills in our second indoor display barn plus the completion of some of our unfinished restorations. The display barn itself was completed in time for our annual Windmill Fest celebration 10/6/12. 8 of 8 indoor towers have been installed along with thier heads. All of these rare mills are fully assembled as noted below.

The 2011 & 2012 additions to our collection included a 10ft Star #7, secured with the help of Don Hodges, of Coldwater, MI, a very rare 8ft Perkins Steel Single Gear mill along with its earlier counterparts, a 10ft Perkins Wood Solid Wheel & 10ft Steel Wheel Perkins DM, as well as an 10ft Original Monitor purchased in NE. The Star #7 is done and erected. The Original Monitor & Single Gear Steel Perkins are now complete and were both erected in our new indoor display barn during the Summer of 2012. We also acquired the Dempster #9 belonging to the late Lester Mishler in 2011. This mill along with several other items from his estate are also featured in our new display barn. On our Fall 2011 trip through the central U. S. we picked up the majority of a Plattner-Yale Eclipse style mill while crossing Iowa. Our early Spring 2012 trip helped us gather the final pieces for our Fairbury #5, the Star #7 and our 6ft USWE Model F. The Fairbury #5, Plattner-Yale & USWE F have also been completed and erected outdoors. The Woodmanse Solid Wood Wheel & Dempster #9 are finished and already on display in the newest barn joined by a 10ft Axtell Roller Bearing mill. For Christmas 2011 Santa brought us a 10ft Elgin Hummer L with steel wheel with assistance from Dan Benjamin. We picked up the last pieces for this mill at the June 2012 Windmiller's Trade Fair in Batavia, IL along with a 10ft wood wheel Star #15. The Hummer L erecting was completed 8/10/12 and it is now on display in our 2nd indoor display barn. The Star 15 was finished mid December '12.

We are just finishing several mills scheduled to be erected in 2013. We've completed the exterior paint of the 6ft Elgin Wonder B that was restored for us by Dan Benjamin of Windmills R Us. We are done with our 8ft Ideal Steel and finished the 10ft Perkins Steel Direct Motion, the later acquired from Roger Bailey, of York, NE. That Perkins is already on its tower with the exception of its wheel scheduled to be picked up in June. Jack Kellenberger of Star City, IN helped us purchase an 8ft specimen of the original Freeman Steel early in August '12. This mill is now complete and was the first mill of 2013 we erected. We will erect our 8ft Goodhue Standard in the next few weeks as we were able to secure the last missing parts with the help of Ivan Block, Wausau, WI, on our mid Nov. 2012 trip and its restoration was finished before last Christmas.

And just when we thought we had added our last mill for a while.... With the help of Shane Spangler, Fairview, KS, we added a Model 1899 Pull-In Aermotor to our list of future restoration projects. That mill was moved to the park following our mid April 2013 trip. We also brought home a rare U-Top Freeman open gear and a very rare Fairbury #2. These mills were purchased from a collection of items tough financial times force Peg Muller of Yankton, SD to sell. The Fairbury #2 will go up in our display barn #1 as a Suderland Sun version mill which was made by Fairbury under contract. Our April trip also saw us drag home some other interesting display items including a large collection of unusual tail vanes, many of which have already been hung on walls in our display barns as well as crated original wood wheel sections foe our 10ft Perkins along with an original vane that has already replace the reproduction vane we had mounted earlier.

We are currently open by appointment in addition to usually being there on Fridays, Saturdays & 1/2 day Sundays until warmer late summer has us hiding from the heat. Admission will always be FREE. Call us ahead of time once you know your visit schedule.

Mills included currently in our collection are noted below. The asteric * indicates those mills not yet on display. We have posted pictures below of many in our collection and as shown the change of seasons brings a new perspective to each of these historical treasures.

8ft 1899 Pull-In Pumping Aermotor*
8ft 402 R.A. Pumping Aermotor

8ft A-502 Aermotor

10ft B-602 Aermotor

8ft A-612 Aermotor

6ft X-702 Aermotor

6ft X-802 Aermotor, Valley Industries

10ft Althouse Wheeler Bobtail Raymond
10ft Axtell Standard Roller Bearing Type

10ft Baker Original Monitor

5ft Baker Monitor V

8ft Baker Monitor K

10ft Baker Monitor L

6 1/2ft Baker Monitor Hambone

6 1/2ft Baker Monitor WB

10ft Challenge Vaneless

10ft Challenge D.S. Solid Wheel

8ft Challenge 27

6ft Currie Open Gear

6ft Currie Oil-Bath

10ft Dempster #4

8ft Dempster #8
10ft Dempster #9

8ft Dempster #10

8ft Dempster #11

8ft Dempster #12 (Original 1922 model)

6ft Dempster #12B

8ft Dempster #12A

10ft Eclipse Wind Mill Co. 1873 Eclipse

10ft Elgin #2
10ft Elgin Hummer L Steel Wheel
6ft Elgin Wonder B*

8ft 1893 Fairbanks Steel

10ft Fairbanks-Morse Eclipes Type P
10ft Fairbury #2 as Suderland Sun*

10ft Fairbury #5

10ft Fairbury #7

6ft Fairbury/Mishler Pioneer

10ft F & W Original Star

10ft F & W Star 7

8ft F & W Star 12
10ft F & W Star 15 Wood

5ft F & W Star 37 Zephyr

8ft Freeman/ Acme Steel
8ft Freeman U-Top Open Gear*
6ft Freeman Improved Clipper
8ft Goodhue Standard*
14ft Halladay Standard Wood Wheel & Vane
5 1/2ft Heller-Aller Baker Run in Oil

8ft Heller-Aller Direct Stroke Wind Engine

8ft I.X.L. Steel

8ft Kenwood Open Gear
12ft New Globe Wood Wheel

8ft Parish
10ft Perkins Wood Solid Wheel
10ft Perkins Steel Direct Motion

8ft Perkins Steel Single Gear
10ft Plattner-Yale #3

10ft Red Cross Solid Wheel

6ft Samson Steel

8ft U.S.W.E Model B

6ft U.S.W.E Model F

10ft Woodmanse Steel Direct Stroke

10ft Woodmanse Wood Direct Stroke

8ft Woodmanse AirMaster

8ft Woodmanse Steel

The pictures below show only a small portion of the windmills on display at our park.

Our Woodmanse Steel, A-502, Star 12 & AirMaster erected 7/21/09.

Our collection is displayed in a park like setting surrounded by trees in a beautiful farming community.

Our 1873 Eclipses erected Summer of 2011. It is monogramed with my youngest daughers initials as
this is "her" windmill. Stop by and she'll tell you all
about it.

Our 10ft Big Spear Challenge Vaneless. This mill was aquired from the family who originally erected it near Columbus, NE.

Originally produced from 1927 until 1941 our Challenge 27 was first erected in Kansas.

Our 8ft Parish Windmill is a unique chain drive mill designed by Gus Parish, of Earth, TX, for a friend looking for a simple mill design. Commercially available in TX, OK, NM & KS for only a few years.

The Woodmanse Steel Back-Geared Mill was introduced in 1892. Ours was acquired in eastern Nebraska after many years of service.

Our 6ft Oil-Bath Currie is an outstandy example of "The Poor Man's" windmill manufactured in Kanas.

As you enter the park, on your way to one of two indoor display barns, you're greeted by a 6ft Samson Steel & 8ft Kenwood.

Our 10ft Original Star on its indoor tower along side 4 other wood wheel mills including a 10ft Eclipse, 10ft Red Cross, 10ft Challenge D.S. & Monitor L.

Originally sold by a distributor in Oklahoma our 8ft Airmaster was restored by Micheal Porterfield of Praire Legend Windmills.

Our 8.5ft Eli, erected 7/20/09, was produced by the Kregel Wind Mill Co. located in Nebraska City, NE. Distribution of this direct stroke mill outside the surrounding 75 mile area was uncommon.

Our 6 1/2ft Monitor WB earned is spot in our collection as a limited production "pull-out" version. This was the first mill aquired in our collection. It operates our "Texas Hot Tub" as shown below.

One of several vintage picture & advertising collages

in the indoor display barn. Pictures are a great source of documentation.

A 10ft Woodmanse Direct Stroke, from Freeport, IL now on display.

Our Dempster 12A, one of eight Dempster windmill in our collection.

Bring your bathing suit for a cool dip in our Indiana version of a Texas Hot Tub supplied by our Monitor WB.

Our original Valley Industries X-802 Aermotor was erected 7/20/09.

Our 10ft Dempster #4 completed during our mid-August 2010 work day.

Our 8ft Kenwood completed 8/4/09, sporting a freshly dipped wheel & vane produced by Dan Benjamin of Windmills-R-Us.

Windmill historian T. Lindsay Baker has written about the mill that was "Good Enough", produced for local residents in No. Central Kansas.

Our 8ft A-502 Aermotor is an exceedingly rare model given its limited production run due to signifigant design flaws. Restored to pumping condition by our local team.

T. Weber & M. Porterfield help erect our Parrish windmill.

One of the favorite displays of our visitors. Comparative Tail Vanes and Bonnets from 18ft and 6ft Dempster #12's. Everyone loves to pose in front of this display for thier group photo's.

Our Elgin #2, restored by Loren Lockman of Double L Windmills. Extremely rare as fewer than 12 are known to exist.

Made for 20+ years begining in 1910 this Monitor model K came to us from Nebraska.

The Monitor "Hambone", named for its resemblence to a large ham, was Baker's first Self-Oiling mill. Our small 6 1/2ft version is unique given its shallow pumping capacity. Originally erected in South Dakota.

Our Bobtail Raymond, restored by Loren Lockman, was aquired in central Kansas where it had been originally purchased in the late 1890's.

Given the shallow pumping capacity our 5ft Star 37

is a rare mill sold in limited numbers.

Our 8ft Heller Aller Direct Stroke erected 7/21/09 with

the help of Micheal Porterfield of Prairie Legend Windmills.

A vintage 12ft wood wheel from a New Globe Wind Mill, purchased in Logonsport, IN, has been hung on one wall inside our display barn where 5 other complete wood wheel mills are displayed.

Produced between 1912 and 1926 our Star model 12 is a open double gear workhorse we aquired in Colorado.

A seldom seen 6ft Michler Fairbury as produced by C & P Machine of Salina, KS. Ours was located in service on a Texas ranch.

Several vintage vanes are displayed in our barn including these examples from the Perkins Wind Mill Co. of Mishawaka, IN and Althouse-Wheeler Co. of Waupun, WI.

Our collection includes numerous models produced by the Aermotor Co. This 6ft X-702 spins proudly atop its 21ft 3 post tower.

6ft Monitor Hambone being set in April 2009 by

a group of frequent volunteers.

Our 5.5 Baker Heller-Aller as produced by the Napolian OH based company.

A 10ft Challenge Direct Stroke flanked by our 10ft Red Cross Solid Wheel displayed indoors with other wood wheel mills.

Our Dandy, manufactured in Batavia, IL, erected near our indoor display barn.

A Parrish, Mod. 5.5 BHA, Monitor K plus

Dempster 12A & 12 installed 7/21/09.

Some of the windmill weights hanging in the rafters of the indoor display barn. Many more are on display including a Battleship from a 12ft Baker Model M.

Our Fairbanks is known as the first widely distributed all steel mill made by Fairbanks, Morse & Co. in 1895.

Though first introduced in the 1890's our 6ft Samson Steel was made sometime after 1920 as it is the final Hyatt bearing version produced for a few years prior to being discontinued.

Young windmillers in attendance at our Grand Opening & Dedication.

Thank you to the following Platinum Donors who are helping make this possible:

Bill Neese, Center Point, IN

Helen Scherb, Terre Haute, IN

Clay Tyson, Higgins, TX

Shane Spangler, Fairview, KS

Thomas Weber, Terre Haute, IN
Burl Buchanan, Spearman, TX

Walter Galbreath, Kansas City, MO

Luke & Ann Dever, Terre Haute, IN

L. A. Joy, Atherton, IN

Richard Duistan, Beatrice, NE

Larry Ryland, Vacaville, CA

Dan Andreason, Pattonsburg, MO

Michael Porterfield, Choctaw, OK

Robert Gilmore, Miltonvale, KS

William Sherlock, Maymont, SK, Canada

Mark Kuckleman, Axtell, KS

Alfred Dunsing, Leduc, Alberta, Canada

Derrick Roberts, Woodward, OK

Jim Koch, Hoagland, IN

Dan Benjamin, Freeman, SD

Muller Industries, Yankton, SD

Burl Buchanan, Spearman, TX

Dr. John Radosevich, Wheatland, WY

David Grapes, Liberty Township, OH

Jason Szafranski, Oak Park, MN

Dennis Weise, Amery, WI

Loren Lockman, Murdock, NE

Global Pump & Equipment, Abernathy, TX

Fed Ex Corp., Indianapolis, IN

Robert Young, Greenleaf, KS

Ronnie Weyer, Waymor, NE

Bernard Bustos, Sr., Grants, NM

Mark Gorby, Seattle, WA

Paul Judkins, Austin, TX

Dennis Cox, Culbertson, NE

Tim Cook, Longmont, CO

Don Hodge, Coldwater, MI
Norman & Linda Massoth, Wellington, KS

Debra Brown & Sam Mishler, Fairbury, NE
Bill Paloatzian, Shaver Lake, CA
Jack Kellenberger, Star City, IN
Rod Dowell, Scotsbluff, NE

Please contact us for details on how you can make a contribution to these efforts.

If You Would Like To Make A Contribution To Our Windmill Park

Simply Click On The Donation Icon.

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