Davidson Windmill Restoration Close To Completion

SOUTH RANGE, Wis. — A windmill over 120 years old is undergoing a much-needed restoration process and it’s almost complete.

The Davidson Windmill located in South Range, Wisconsin along Highway 13 was finished in 1904. It was originally made to grind flour and animal food.

Now the Old-Brule Heritage Society is making sure that it stands tall for many years to come. The original structure had serious rot in the timbers that were supporting it. Experts told them, “It’s lucky it’s still standing.”

“Before the roof had cedar on it, cedar shingles and when the building shifted a little bit it opened up the shingles a little bit so there’s about 40-50 places you could see daylight through,” said Dennis Hill, President of the Old-Brule Heritage Society.

Since the restoration process started, they have worked on the framework, put in aluminum siding, a roof and today the windmill blades. The organizer hopes the piece of history shows what it was like back in the early 1900s.

“If you look at 1901 what was things like then. We never had a plane that flew yet, we never had a car that was practical, and we were fighting our wars with wooden wheel cannons. In two short lifetimes that’s all it is, 124 years we’ve come a long ways. And to see all that progress and this structure really tells you what it was all about,” said Hill.

Finishing touches for the windmill include a fence around it, a sidewalk, and landscaping. The Old-Brule Heritage Society has raised about $130,000 and will need around $50,000 more to make it happen.