ELK HORN, Iowa – The Danish Windmill sits just as visitors enter Elk Horn, which has one of the largest Danish rural populations along with its sister community of Kimballton. Elk Horn has a population of about 750 and was first settled around 1864 by Danish settler Christian Jensen.

The Danish Windmill originally came from Denmark in the Norre Snede area and was used to grind grain. For those who enjoy farming history, this is a stop that shouldn’t be missed. The mill is open to tour and the story behind the mill is fascinating.

The mill was originally built in 1848 and survived a massive fire in 1865; it suffered a smaller fire in 1888.

Bringing the 60-foot windmill to Elk Horn was the dream of Harry Sorenson, a local farmer who witnessed the deterioration of windmills in Denmark on his visit.  Many of the mills he saw were in the countryside where they were used to grind grain. Most mills, like the Danish Windmill, were more than a century old and were no longer being used and were being replaced by modern machinery. The beautiful and historic mills were disappearing from the landscape. Sorenson thought of a way to save one windmill.

He thought that Elk Horn would be a perfect place for a Danish windmill and from November 1975-March 1977, the community raised $100,000 to purchase the windmill. It took more than 300 volunteers to locate, buy, move and rebuild the windmill once it arrived in Elk Horn. Part of the excitement behind the project was that this was the perfect Bicentennial Project.

Once it was agreed that Elk Horn would rebuild a Danish mill, Harry Petersen, a Danish cousin of Milo Petersen, an Elk Horn resident who was part of the planning committee found an acceptable windmill that the owners were willing to sell. The original owners, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Hansen, agreed to sell with the promise of a visit to see the windmill after it had been rebuilt.

Within five months, the mill was being dismantled. The carpenters carefully numbered each piece and to help the Elk Horn volunteers put it back together, they even created a 10:1 scale of the mill. Visitors can view this scale model when touring; it is on display in the Mill House Gift Shop.

The mill, once completed, would be 60 feet high and have a 66-foot wingspan with 80 shutters, each that were seven feet across. The shutters are extra important because they are what catches the wind that turns the gears and grinds the grain against the millstone.

The windmill is such an interesting looking building with shingles covering the eight sides that rise above the base. The Danish Windmill is a smock windmill which accounts for the octagonal shape. In the booklet, “Velkommen to the Danish Windmill, Elk Horn, Iowa,” which provides the history of the Danish Windmill, there is a good description of the shaping of a smock windmill. “Strong and elaborate timber framing and cross bracing characterized the tower structure. Smock mills were clad in weatherboarding and took their name from the traditional costume of the British countryman, a bleached linen smock. The cap of the mill revolved on a circular curb of timber and carried both the weight of the slightly inclined windshaft and a fantail assembly that freed the miller from the use of the tailpole.”

The spur gearing with a countershaft, the booklet explains, then enabled the miller to transmit the power downward through several floors. What is so neat is that this makes sense when touring and seeing and hearing how the miller was able to grind the grain. Next to the windmill there is always a Mill house. The mill house was used for storing bags of grain brought in by the farmers. The miller couldn’t grind grain anytime, he had to wait for the wind to come and move the sails, then when the wind blew he worked 24/7 until it stopped.

At Elk Horn, they built the visitor’s center as the “mill house.” The rebuild was completed on Nov. 4, 1976, and it is a working grain mill. The first corn meal was ground on March 15, 1977.

When touring, visitors will enjoy the opportunity to see a film showing a bit of history, go up in the windmill and even out on the landing to see the “sails” up close. The grinding equipment is truly fascinating. The gift shop provides the opportunity to buy flour from the mill and an array of Danish items as well.

Besides the windmill, there are other buildings, like a Viking Hjem, a 900 A.D. Viking smithy’s home, information on different types of windmills and a Tiny Morning Star Chapel. For more information, log onto www.danishwindmill.com.