Windmill

Windmills had many jobs on the farm. Windmills used the power of the wind to pump water to a large concrete tank from which animals could drink. The Schumacher family also used the windmill to pump water for drinking, cooking, and other household uses. Getting the water depended on the wind blowing to turn the fan at the top of the windmill, so when there was not enough wind to turn the fan, the water had to be pumped by hand. Farmers also used wind power to saw wood, operate drill presses, and a host of other uses.

The first windmill on the Schumacher farm had a wooden tower and metal blades and gears, which was common on farms in the early 1900s. Eventually the Schumachers replaced this with an all-metal windmill and tower. “The windmill was easily accessible to the house and to the barnyard,” Marcella later wrote. This was important because the windmill was, according to Marcella, “the primary indicator of storms, and warmer and cooler weather.” The windmill would show farmers the direction of the wind, and observant farmers would note changes in wind speed and direction.

The windmill standing here today is a Monitor K-Style, a style manufactured by the Baker Manufacturing Company of Evansville, Wisconsin between 1910 and 1930. This windmill was purchased from a farm in Adams County, Wisconsin and restored before being installed here in the fall of 2017. It stands near the same spot where the original windmill stood.