Giants of Texas:

Lubbock Windmill Collection largest in Nation

Jacob Tucker, feature editor

 

 

 

The windmill has always been a vital key to survival on the plains of West Texas. 

The American Wind Power Center in Lubbock displays hundreds of versions of this magnificent invention.  This center is the largest museum in the nation totally dedicated to windmills and their history.  It all began with the curiosity of a professor at Texas Tech University.

Billie Wolfe began to focus on gathering windmills during the mid-1960s.  She became concerned about the disappearing history of this mechanical marvel, so she began to photograph different windmills.  Her efforts gained the attention of Texas Tech President, Dr. Grover Murray, and began to gain funding through his office. 

During a period of 30 years, Wolfe journeyed across the nation in search of mills to add to her growing collection.  In 1993, she received a very rare collection of mills from a farmer in Nebraska.  Wolfe was one of many people, including private collectors, museums and even the Smithsonian Institution, looking to acquire this collection. 

It took a year’s worth of negotiating, but a promise to keep the collection in tact guaranteed the sale.  This expanded the collection to 48 windmills, 171 weights, 56 pumps, numerous photos and models.

In 1996, Wolfe suffered a stroke that limited her work severely on the windmill project.  All of her hard work paid off during the summer of 1997, when the city of Lubbock offered the project 28 acres of land just south of Mackenzie Park.  But before the first windmill was constructed on the land, Wolfe passed away.

Coy Harris, executive director of the Center, took the reigns. 

“I began to supervise the construction of all the windmills, and continued the development of the rare windmills,” said Harris. 

The formal opening of the center was held on June 20, 1998, and was considered a unique museum.  It became internationally known for its display of windmills in their natural setting.  Some of the mills are even in working order and are pumping water into stock tanks that are on the property. 

The first mill that was put onto the property was the twin wheel mill.  It is one of the mills that is pumping water on the site.  It was unique for its time because both wheels spin simultaneously in opposite directions.  Since it was the first constructed, this windmill has become an icon for the museum.

Inside the museum’s building, there are 90 different windmills, each with their own story. 

“We have many of our more valuable windmills in the building, partially due to the weather and condition the mill is in,” says Harris.

Visitors are overwhelmed by the wealth of information and the abundance of metal and wooden mills in the building.  Even if one is not interested in the history of windmills, you will still be blown away by the sheer size and ingenuity of these giants. 

One of the tallest windmills in the world was built on the Yellowhouse Canyon Ranch near Levelland in Hockley County.  The mill was about 125 feet tall and pumped water for more than 5,000 head of cattle.  It had to be that high because the water well was drilled in the base of a canyon.  In order for the water to be pumped, it had to be tall enough to catch wind.  But this windmill is not in existence today.

The newest addition to the museum is the Vestas Model V47 wind turbine.  It supplies immediate power to the museum and 60 surrounding homes.

“It produces so much electricity, that the museum cannot possibly use it all,” said Harris.  “We take just enough to run the facilities here, and then we sell the rest to surrounding homes.”

This turbine is 164 feet tall and is anchored by 80 bolts, each 26 feet long.  A total of 160 yards of concrete was used to help in anchoring the massive structure.  Each of the three blades are 77 feet long and take about a 10 mile-per-hour wind to begin producing electricity. 

When fully powered, the turbine produces 690 volts of current at 614 amps.  The cost to build the machine was $1 million, which was provided from the Houston Endowment of Houston, Texas and The CH Foundation of Lubbock.

The patio of the museum is also available to be rented out.  Many family functions, weddings and other events have been held on the patio.  This area offers a unique view of the outdoor windmills and a pleasant setting for all. 

Accompanying the museum is the Windmiller’s Art Gallery.  This gallery has a unique and extensive collection of photographs, models and drawings of the West Texas giant.  The Windsmith museum store is also located in the main building.  It specializes in providing a variety of different windmill keepsakes, for sale to vistors.

The American Wind and Power Center is located at 1701 Canyon Lakes Drive and is accessible by simply driving down 19^th Street past the Depot District.  Regular hours year round are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and during the summer it is open on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  There is no admission charge, but donations are suggested at $2 per person and $5 per family.

For additional information, contact Harris at (806) 747-8734 or by e-mail at charris@windmill.com.  Visit the center’s website at www.windmill.com for additional history and snapshots of the windmills at the center.