Aermotor Windmill - Vandalia, IL
Posted by: YoSam.
N 38° 58.464 W 089° 07.183
16S E 316375 N 4316072
In a grassy area next to a sculptured key and a fire breathing dragon it sure catches your eye.
Waymark Code: WMJKEY
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/29/2013
Views: 3
County of windmill: Fayette County
location of windmill: US 40 & Rock Island Ave., Vandalia
Text on windmill tail: Aermotor, U.S.A.
Some Aermotor History: Aermotor
"The Aermotor Windmill Company is an American manufacturer of wind-powered water pumps. The widespread use of their distinctive wind pumps on ranches throughout the arid plains and deserts of the United States has made their design a quintessential image of the American West.
"La Verne Noyes, founder of Aermotor Windmill Company, had hired engineer Thomas O. Perry for a different job but saw the potential of the all-metal windpump developed by Perry after extensive experiments. The first Aermotor was sold in 1888, with 45 windmills in total being sold in the first year.[1] Aermotor soon became a strong competitor among its contemporaries selling over 20,000 of its windmills by 1892. Over the next 30 years Aermotor grew and expanded, introducing accessories and variants on 'the mathematical windmill.'
"La Verne Noyes died in 1919. He left the Aermotor Company to a tax paying trust, with 48 colleges and universities as beneficiaries.
"Aermotor continued to innovate and manufacture windmills throughout World War II and helped to produce the top secret Norden bombsight.
"During the latter part of the century ownership of the Aermotor Company changed hands and had its operation moved and expanded to new venues, including the country of Argentina, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Brentwood, Missouri, and Conway, Arkansas. By 1981, 80% of all windmills manufactured in The United States had their genesis in Conway. In 1998 Aermotor was purchased by Kees Verheul, grandfather of Kate Waldorf, its current owner and president. It now operates from a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) facility in San Angelo, Texas." ~ Wikipedia