It features rare and historic windmills, model trains, a 6,000-sq-ft mural, and more, offering a fun, educational experience for all ages. Discover the American Windmill Museum
The American Windmill Museum in Lubbock, Texas, holds the world’s largest public collection of restored windmills. Spanning 28 acres, the museum showcases windmills from different eras, including a 660KW Vestas Wind Turbine
that powers the museum. Inside, visitors can explore the historical ties between windmills and 1800s railroads through a 6,600-square-foot model train layout, complete with 3D-printed windmills. The museum also features grinding millstones and a fun G-scale train setup with beloved characters like Thomas the Tank Engine. The Legacy of the Wind mural spans 6,000 square feet and chronicles 250 years of windmill history in America, from Dutch-style mills to 19th-century water pumpers and captures the importance of windmills in rural life and the settlement of the western prairies. The museum is an ideal spot for a family outing, a school field trip, or a history enthusiast’s afternoon. Come explore the American Windmill Museum—a place where history, technology, and family fun all come together. THE AMERICAN WINDMILL MUSEUM
The mission of the American Windmill Museum as an educational organization is to help diverse audiences explore the ways in which people have used and continue to use their human ingenuity in harnessing the wind to live in varied environments. Admission cost to the entire facility and 28-acre outdoor park area is:
Adults - $10.00
Seniors, Veterans, Students - $8.00
Kids 3-12 - $7.00
Kids 2 and under - Free
Active-Duty Military and Immediate Family - Free
Group of 4 or more - $30.00 ($ 7.50 each)
Guided Tours must be booked at least two weeks in advance. Call to schedule 806-747-8734
Adult Guided Tours - $15.00 - minimum of 8
School Guided Tours - $8.00
In the mid-sixties, Billie Wolfe, a faculty member of Texas Tech’s College of Home Economics, taught courses in Housing Design for Family Living. Supporting documents for those classes included photographs of farm and ranch structures where usually the remains of a well-used windmill was in the background. She realized that the windmills in those pictures were rapidly disappearing and they became the focus of her interest. Wolfe traveled throughout the country, searching for windmills and interviewing the farmers and ranchers who owned them. Wolfe learned of an unusual collection of restored windmills in Nebraska that was for sale. She visited the owner in Mitchell, Nebraska who had a premier collection of early American windmills. Terms were negotiated and a payment was made for his entire collection. In the summer of 1993, Ms. Wolfe met Coy Harris, a Lubbock native and CEO of Wind Engineering Corporation. Together they established the American Windmill Museum as a non-profit organization. Harris, planned, arranged and moved the Hundley Collection to Lubbock which consisted of 48 windmills, 171 weights, 56 pumps and models. They then began the work to raise money for the balance of the purchase. In early 1997 Ms. Wolfe passed away but her and Harris’s work was rewarded that summer by the City of Lubbock offering the windmill group a permanent home in Mackenzie park. This 28-acre tract of rolling hills, (rolling for Lubbock) was ideal for such a large number of windmills the organization owned at the time. The Scarborough-Linebery Foundation of Midland awarded a grant of over one million dollars to the museum and a 30,000 sq. gallery building was built to house the rare windmills. Windmills as large as 25 feet in diameter could be displayed indoors and by 2001 the museum had the largest public collection of restored windmills in the world. Coy Harris, as Executive Director, designed and supervised all the construction of the windmill museum as well as the restoration and continued acquisition of the museum’s collection of rare mills. During the period when the water pumping windmills were being acquired, Harris collected a number of early electric generating wind chargers, some dating to the 1920’s. The largest wind machine at the Museum is the 660 KW Vestas Wind Turbine that was placed in service in 2005. It has a 154-foot diameter wheel and stands on a 165-foot tall tower. It is large enough to power the museum complex. By 2015, the original building was full of windmills and a complementary 33,000 sq. building was built and opened in 2016. Inside its spacious interior early wind turbines are exhibited that are interactive with visitors. The relationship between railroads and windmills of the 1800’s is celebrated with a 6,600 sq. model train layout where 3D printed windmills and custom-built houses illustrate the interaction between railroads and windmills. In a separate wing, a large collection of documented grinding mill stones gives a historical summary of the first uses of windmills in America. Complementing these is a collection of miniature houses and windmills. After 27 years as Executive Director, Coy Harris, decided to retire. The Board of Directors selected Sandra Harris as the new Executive Director of the organization and she began working in September of 2020. Sandra is the daughter-in-law of Coy and is married to Coy’s son, Shelley Harris. Sandra has volunteered at the museum since 2010 and worked extensively on helping to build the G-Scale Train Exhibit. Sandra is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture and a minor in Business. She was raised on a farm outside of Seminole, Texas and knows the importance of water conservation and has a deep appreciation for windmills. The American Windmill Museum is internationally recognized as the place to visit for observing windmills and wind chargers, photographing groups of windmills, and serving as the educational facility where the windmill’s heritage can be seen and heard.
