Origins and history of windmills to be topic at next meeting of the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society

[February 12, 2016]   LINCOLN - John W. Durdle of Hopedale will be presenting a power point program on windmills, at the Monday, February 15th meeting of the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society, 114 N. Chicago St., Lincoln, IL, at 6:30 p.m.

The four-part presentation will include the origins of windmills, the windmills of the Ostfriesland area of Germany, the Dutch stile windmills that were and still are in Illinois, and the farm windmills.

The farm windmills were a part of nearly every farmstead across the United States and around the world. Illinois had a major part in the manufacturing of these windmills. Logan County even had a windmill manufacturer in Mount Pulaski.

Durdle has had an interest in windmills since an early age, and has been collecting windmills for about 35 years. He has about 75 different makes and models in his collection, some he has restored and some are in versus states of disrepair. It is his wish to find someone, group or company that would be interested in forming a windmill museum. There are windmill museums in other states but not any in Illinois.

[John W. Durdle]