Windmill and Shed #2

It is one of several windmill shots I have taken over the years.

I shot this on my way to Bloomington one afternoon. The sky was about perfect, although the temperature was a little nippy.

By the 1870’s and 1880’s, there were hundreds of companies manufacturing windmills. Most of these companies were located on the eastern edge of the Great Plains or in the Midwest.

The first successful all-metal windmill was marketed in 1876, but metal windmills were not common until the 1890s. Metal windmills had curved blades allowing them to capture more wind than flat wooden blades. These innovations allowed the metal mills to out-pump many wooden mills.