Eclipse Windmill -- Snyder Heritage Village, Snyder TX
N 32° 42.365 W 100° 53.442
14S E 322781 N 3620283
An Eclipse windmill on display at the Snyder Heritage Village in Snyder TX
Waymark Code: WMTGYQ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2016
Views: 1
This old ranch windmill and hitching post were donated to the Snyder Heritage Village by J. A. "Snooks" Merrit. According to the plaque that accompanies the exhibit, this windmill dates from 1888, and stood on Mr. Merrit's ranch until it was disassembled and re-erected here.
From wikipedia: (
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"The Eclipse windmill was one of the more successful designs of windmill used to pump water in the nineteenth century United States. It was invented by Leonard Wheeler, a Presbyterian minister who was working among the Ojibwe on the south shore of Lake Superior. Wheeler perfected the device on his missionary homestead for nearly two decades, unknown to the larger technological world. In 1866 health issues forced him to move to Beloit, Wisconsin, then a bustling industrial city, where he was persuaded to patent the basic function of the device. Although Wheeler died before he could witness the success of his invention, his sons carried on the legacy. Some of the companies that succeeded the original Eclipse Windmill Company remain viable in the 21st century."