Kregel Windmill Museum

Kregel Wind Mill Company
Location 1416 Central Ave., Nebraska City, Nebraska
Coordinates 40°40′37″N 95°51′48″W / 40.67694°N 95.86333°W / 40.67694; -95.86333Coordinates: 40°40′37″N 95°51′48″W / 40.67694°N 95.86333°W / 40.67694; -95.86333
Area less than one acre
Built 1903 (1903)
Architectural style Romanesque, Round Arch Style
NRHP Reference # 93000061[1]
Added to NRHP February 25, 1993

The Kregel Wind Mill Company made wind wheel water pumping windmills in Nebraska City, Nebraska starting in the 1879. It is the present day Kregel Windmill Factory Museum.[2]

History

The brand of windmills that the Kregel Windmill Company produced was called "ELI" — as an homage to one of George Kregel's friends, a teacher, who had died. Kregel windmills were used to pump water from wells at farms and homes in the region of southeastern Nebraska surrounding Nebraska City. Managed by George F. Kregel, the company moved to the current Central Avenue building in 1903, operating in that location for 88 years.

The Central Avenue factory has been preserved with all of its manufacturing equipment. The machinery in the factory is powered by a central transverse line shaft and leather belts coming down to pulleys on each machine. The line shaft itself was originally powered by a single cylinder engine but in the 1920s was converted to electricity. After manufacturing more than 2000 windmills the company stopped making windmills in the 1940s, and the Kregels worked instead in pump repair and well maintenance until 1991 in the same location.[3][4]

The factory is a one-story wood frame building. The flat-roofed building has two small roof monitors for light and ventilation. The front facade is clad with pressed sheet metal in a brick pattern, with four bays. The interior is a large open space with two structural bays, and a small office space. All of the company's tools and records have been preserved.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Miller, Greg; Murphy, David (1992). "National Register of Historic Places - Registration Form: Kregel Wind Mill Company" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "History". Kregel Windmill Factory Museum. 2011.
  4. ↑ "About". Kregel Windmill Factory Museum. 2011.
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