History of Windmills in America

The history of windmills in America is full of innovation. Learn all about how old windmill water pumps helped expand the west.

By Kasey Moomau
Updated on August 19, 2022
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by AdobeStock/LightcrafterArtistry

The history of windmills in America is full of innovation. Learn all about how old windmill water pumps helped expand the west.

Icons of the rural landscape, windmill towers and functional wind-powered pumps still dot the byways of rural America. Though many a mill tower has doubled over due the weight of time, many more are supported by the trees that grew up beneath them, and, in some areas, those windmills are still on the job — relentlessly drawing cool fresh water from ancient reservoirs down deep. Some say the water-pumping windmill played an important part in settling the country, while others point to its importance in agricultural expansion out West. There may be no sound so relaxing as the creak of a mill superimposed on the trickle of water into a stock tank — and no activity so refreshing as taking a hot summer dip in that very tank. In any case, this romantic rural symbol has an important history that is ongoing.

In bygone days, windmills were built from wood by farmers and ranchers who wanted to stake claims on land lacking a year-round stream, spring, lake or pond. Once the well was dug, hand pumping the water was a long, difficult chore, and thirsty livestock and gardens needed a lot of water — never mind the laundry. The time needed to hand-pump water for stock or irrigation severely limited the size of a family’s operation, so some form of automatic water-drawing device took a high position on the homesteader’s priority list. Many industrious farmers cobbled together elegant, simple solutions that took advantage of an abundant source of energy in the American West — the wind.

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