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Watermill Express
Plant City, FL |
Windmill
Middlebury, IN |
Windmill & Welcome Sign
Rotterdam, NY |
windmill
Amsterdam, NY |
Nieuw Amsterdam
Village Apartments
Old Bridge, NJ |
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Although technically these are shrunken rather than enlarged structures, I'm going to break the rules to include these modern contributions. Watermill Express features cute, eye-catching windmills that are usually placed in supermarket parking lots. The company began building these water kiosks in 1984 in Brighton, CO. There are now about 900 of them in CA, NV, NM, AZ, CO, TX, LA, OK, OH, and FL. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.
The Middlebury Windmill is installed at Krider's World's Fair Gardens. It is a replica of the one that Krider Nurseries displayed at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. For more, see this website.
The Rotterdam Windmill is located in a Kmart shopping center. I believe it was built recently as an information booth. The windmill seems to be a local symbol as evidenced by this sign.
This Amsterdam Windmill is at a farm. It appears that it was functional or at least once was.
The Nieuw Amsterdam Village Apartments windmill is probably a recently built structure.
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Windmill House
Barnegat, NJ |
The Windmill House was built around 1910. The blades look like they turned at one time. In the past few years, the building has fallen into worse shape. Hardly any trace of the blades remain. For more, see this website.
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Windmill Building
Griderville, KY |
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This Windmill Building was originally used a a motel office. The motel consisted of smaller windmill cabins much like those at the nearby Wigwam Village in Cave City, KY. The building was later used as a restaurant known as the "Old Dutch Mill". It appears vacant now.
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windmill store
Los Angeles, CA |
Towne Crier
Clovis, NM |
Windmill Bank
Mechanicsville, VA |
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This windmill store is from around 1930. It is now missing its blades and used as a liquor store. Does anyone know what was originally sold here?
I believe Towne Crier was the original occupant of this building. Today, the business sells home and car stereos but a graphic on the windmill makes me wonder if this wasn't originally a record store.
The Windmill Bank was most recently occupied by Wachovia. As of 2007, the building was vacant and being restored. It was built in 1974 for Heritage Savings and Loan. Originally, the windmill's arms turned. For more, see this website.
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Windmill Inn Motel
Lynden, WA |
Windmill de Wijn
Lynden, WA |
Fairway Center windmill
Lynden, WA |
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The Windmill Inn Motel was built in 1950.
The Windmill de Wijn is 72' tall and was built in 1987. It functions as a gift shop inside. The three upper floors house The Dutch Village Inn. The blades turn and are lit at night. For more, see this website.
The Fairway Center windmill is 53' tall and was built in 2006. The base of the building houses Woods Coffee, Fairway Drug and Sportsworld.
There is another small windmill in Lynden as well.
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Windmill
Seneca Falls, NY |
Danish Windmill
Elk Horn, IA |
Windmill
Helen, GA |
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The Seneca Falls Windmill was once the main office of a tourist cottage complex. It is now used as the Visitors Info Center, adjacent to the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce. These old photos date to the 1920s or so.
The Danish Windmill was built in 1848 in Norre Snede, Denmark. The 60' tall windmill was brought here in 1976. Elk Horn has one of the largest concentrations of Danes in the U.S. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.
The Helen Windmill is part of the Heidi Motel.
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former gas station
Ellensburg, WA |
Dutch Mill
Mobile Home Park
Aurora, CO |
Dutch Mill Motel
and Family Restaurant
Shelburne, VT |
Zoder's Inn
Gatlinburg, TN |
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The Ellensburg windmill was originally built as a gas station office. The property also included motel rooms. The building was still in use in the 1970s but has been abandoned since around 1991. Its last uses were as a radiator shop office and an espresso stand. For more, see this website.
The Aurora windmill was built around 1920 and is now used as the office for the Dutch Mill Mobile Home Park. It was originally surrounded by a group of 13 cottages which were rented out to tourists and workers at the Fitzsimons Army Hospital. This complex was known as the Dutch Mill Cottage Court. The windmill was later used as the Dutch Mill Tobacco Shop.
The Dutch Mill Motel opened in 1927 as the Dutch Mill Motor Court with 25 cottages laid out in a semi-circle. Cottages were added over the years but by the 1970s, they were beyond repair and replaced with a more modern hotel room complex. In 1973, the Shelburne Camping Area was added behind the motel. The restaurant opened in 1995. For more, see their website.
Zoder's Inn was built in 1941 by Wallace Zoder. The hotel was remodeled in 2000 and is now owned by Best Western. The windmill structure now sits on top of their Super Suite. For more, see this website.
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windmill
Oakland, CA |
Windmill Club
Rodeo, CA |
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The history of the Oakland windmill is unclear. While some say it was originally installed at an entrance to Idora Park, I have not found any evidence of such. Another story is that this structure is what remains of a Pee Wee mini golf course. This windmill was supposedly used as a flower shop in the 1950s/1960s and was possibly used as a lemonade stand at one point. It has been vacant for many years. I'd love to get the complete story about this one. For more, see this website.
The Windmill Club bar features this rooftop windmill. For more, see this website.
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NW Iowa Auto Center
Le Mars, IA |
Max's Bar & Grill
Yakima, WA |
Windmill Travel Center
Dexter, MN |
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The NW Iowa Auto Center building was constructed around 1930 as a gas station with a rooftop windmill. Only a bit of the blades remains at this point. Prior to the repair shop, the building was home to Jimbo's Bait and Tackle.
The blades still turn on Max's Bar & Grill rooftop windmill. Does anyone know the history behind this one? For more, see this website.
The Windmill Travel Center consisted of a restaurant, gas station, and motel. The restaurant and gas station were both closed when I was there in 2008, however, the blades on the windmill were still turning. The motel seemed to be in use as a conference center. The restaurant was orignally a Nickerson Farms. Does anyone know when it became the Windmill? For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
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