FULTON, Ill. – Grinding grain has long been the process for farm crops, although milling from windmills is rare in the states. However, in Fulton, a town along the Mississippi River, visitors can tour an authentic Dutch windmill that operates and mills grain.

The Historical Landmark Database shares that the first Dutch arrival came in 1856. First, they came from Chicago and Michigan, followed by arrivals directly from the Netherlands.

The idea for the windmill began after the flood of 1965. The devastating flood prompted the city to build a protection dike. Considering the Dutch heritage of the community, a Dutch-style levee – or flood control dike – was built in the 1980s.

Keeping this unique history in mind, Fulton residents decided a Dutch windmill on top of the dike would represent their cultural history. Plans went into works, and De Immigrant windmill became a reality in 2000. The book, The Building of De Immigrant, states how the windmill got its name. “Rachael Ottens, 5th grade Fulton student, submitted the winning name, De Immigrant. The Vereniging De Hollandsche Molen (Dutch Windmill Society) group from the Netherlands selected the name.”

The Dutch windmill was constructed on the flood control dike at 10th and First streets. At the time the windmill opened, the grinding stones were not yet installed. Monies from Friends of the Windmill, the fundraising organization, had to be raised to purchase them. After receiving sufficient funds of around $90,000, they selected blue basalt millstone. The stones were installed and used, and the first grain was ground in 2001.

What is wonderful for those that love old iron and to see how things work is that the windmill, and the Windmill Cultural Center, which houses several scale model windmills, is open to tour. Prior to COVID, 10,000 visitors came each year. Today both the windmill and cultural center are open during weekend hours May-October.

De Immigrant is an eight-sided windmill that cost $1 million to build. The windmill was purchased by the town of Fulton, along with a grant from the State of Illinois. The Dutch windmill was engineered and prefabricated in the Netherlands specifically for Fulton, then it was disassembled and shipped. The windmill traveled by ship, rail and truck before arriving to be put back together in Fulton. Overseen by millwrights and Dutch masons, they used 150-year-old bricks around the 35-foot-tall base. The windmill is over 90 feet tall and as the wind moves the sails, the gears move and grinding stones grind wheat, rye, buckwheat and corn to create some flour they sell in the cultural center. The stones inside the windmill rise three stories high. According to information from Enjoy Illinois, “…millers can grind approximately one bushel of grain every 10 minutes, wind permitting.”

Across the street from De Immigrant is The Windmill Cultural Center and gift shop. They offer a wonderful array of windmill examples. There are 20 scale model examples. Windmill sizes range from 10 inches to six feet in height. First employed in Europe, Henk Heileman and his wife, June, traveled extensively photographing windmills, then they returned home and built the models. Henk Heileman used blueprints from the real mills and formed them, his wife June did much of the painting and fine details. Eventually the couple retired in Demotte, Ind.

As they grew older, they began looking for a home for their windmills. After checking out several places, they found Fulton. The Heilemans, though, had specific requirements for the donation of their models. They required an environmentally controlled environment, and a building where the models would not be moved. Once all this was in place, the windmill models arrived.

Models include a Dutch-style mill from Long Island, N.Y., a mill from Iran and one from Russia complete with 25 scale model windmills (including 20 European ones). The European countries represented include Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

The story of Henk Heilman is fascinating. According to the Fulton Illinois Visitor Guide, “Henk Heilman grew up in the Netherlands and had an early interest in windmills. Following World War II and a stint in the Dutch Marines, he immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1960’s. Henk accepted a work assignment in Europe and his wife June lived there for 15 years. In 1977, Henk took June to Germany to see the forced labor camp he had been in during World War II, they visited a German windmill museum, prompting Henk to spend about 800 hours building his first windmill model.”

He built 21 models within six years. Ensuring that the collection went to a safe place in Fulton, Henk and June’s work lives on at the Cultural Center. Henk died in 2016, and June lives still in Demotte.

This is a wonderful stop along the Great River Road, and a chance to see farmer ingenuity at work. For those that have the time, a stop at the Heritage Canyon, a recreation of an 1800s village, is a fun site. Heritage Canyon is on 12 acres on an abandoned quarry. Harold and Thelma Wiernga bought the quarry in 1967. They converted the machine shop into a workshop. Then they built their home on top of the former rock crusher.

The Wierenga’s had two goals, they wanted to create a village preserving Midwestern history. And they wanted to disturb nature as little as possible as each building was added. They created their canyon masterpiece between 1967-1999.

For more information about things to do in Fulton, contact Fulton Tourism at 815-589-2616, or email them at fulton.tourism@cityoffulton.us. The website for the city is www.cityoffulton.us.