Kregel Windmill Factory Museum

06/08/2023

06/08/2023

This windmill post with photos is long overdue, but its been a busy year around the famous Kregel Windmill Factory Museum in Nebraska City, NE!

In honor of Arbor Day 2023, & the 10 year anniversary of the historic Kregel Museum officially opening for tours back in 2013, we are proud to donate & dedicate this original restored circa 1920's "ELI" groundwater pumping windmill to Arbor Day Farms in historic Nebraska City, Nebraska! The metal in this mill is well over 100 years old, but through the power of re-galvanizing the original metal, we are saving steel & bringing farm history back to life, for another 100 years or more!

Educational signs will soon be installed around the base of the windmill for all guests & visitors of Arbor Day Farm to see and enjoy! Special thanks to the Charlie McVay Family near Union, NE, where this mill originally pumped life giving water for his family out on the family farm, The Wirth Foundation, Nebraska Windmills & crew, Valmont Industries in West Point, NE, Burr Farms Machinery, Lift All Crane, Dan Benjamin in SD, Linda & Les Jacox, Nebraska City Tourism & Commerce, the Nebraska City Museum Association, & all of those who gave time, money, labor, love & support to help restore & re-home this mill at Arbor Day Farms!

08/09/2022

The Kregel Windmill Factory Museum & the Nebraska State Fair started a brand new partnership this year called the "Saving Farm Culture Initiative", which is a 10 year pledge of partnership between the Nebraska State Fair, the Kregel Windmill Factory Museum & the greater Nebraska community that aims to preserve Nebraska history & agricultural heritage by utilizing windmills & educational community programs!

Today we celebrated this exciting initiative by raising & installing a brand new "American West 902" windmill wheel, motor & tail on an existing "Fairbury" steel tower. Originally, there was a nice Fairbury that stood here, but earlier this year a windstorm damaged the motor beyond repair. So now we have a neat hybrid mill! Keep an eye on next spring/summer of 2023 as well, because the Kregel Museum will be installing a 1920's "ELI" windmill right next to this one for all to enjoy!

In addition, brand new permanent outdoor educational signage will go up in a couple of weeks before this years fair that will further educate the public about all the windmills located on site. A huge thank you to Shane's Pump & Windmill Service, MRL Crane Co, the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation, & Roberts Pump & Supply for their coordinated efforts & hard work on todays project! They do great work & we are proud to call them partners!

08/05/2022

Some people wake up with coffee, we wake up with WINDMILLS! At 8AM, the Kregel Museum took down an original 1928 ELI" windmill right outside of Union, NE, and it's a beauty!

This piece of historic machinery gave the McVay Family life sustaining water for their house & farm for decades! Long since retired, this piece of Nebraska City heritage will be restored & given a new home next spring of 2023 inside Arbor Lodge State Park!

The Kregel Museum gives special thanks to Lift-All Crane out of Bellevue, NE for their excellent machinery & outstanding operator! We also want to thank Nebraska Windmills in Syracuse, NE for their help on getting the mill down and for helping with restoration. However, our most important thank you goes out to the members of the McVay Family for letting Kregel Windmill Factory Museum restore and re-purpose this piece of farm history!

07/13/2022

THESE PHOTOS FROM CIRCA 1898 ARE 124 YEARS OLD!

Pictured in these (4) historic photos are Kregel family members performing various tasks such as delivered windmill parts to raising a windmill with the help of a rope & pulley system.

ELI windmills were legendary & exceeding popular throughout the Midwest of the USA!
They were only ever created inside the family owned Kregel Windmill Factory after its founding by George & Louis Kregel in 1879! The Kregel Museum gives special thanks to David Beck from the Garnavillo, IA area for donating these digitized images created from original 1898 glass plate negatives to the Kregel Windmill Factory Museum to share with the world!

If you would like to see the original windmill factory where these farm machines were made, schedule your guided factory tour today by calling 402-873-1078! We look forward to your visit!

06/25/2022

Our "Father's Day in a Windmill Factory" was a HUGE success!

David Marsh is a talented musician, historic storyteller, and an all around great guy! We had 63 people stop by from all over Nebraska & 8 other states around us & we anticipate even more next year! The root beer floats were cold & the conversations & stories were one of a kind!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by & thank you to our local Arbor Mart gas station located up the block for storing our surplus ice cream & root beer for this event!

Regular tour hours are Tuesday thru Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 1-5pm if you are in the neighborhood this summer! We look forward to your visit!

04/09/2022

SPEND LESS, SAVE MORE & BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE.

These were the words the Kregel Family embraced for 112 years.
Check out this 1927 price list from the Kregel Windmill Company!
For pennies on the dollar, you could purchase a steel water pumping ELI farm windmill (wheel, tower, tail & delivery included)!

This historic factory no longer makes the windmills but the guided personal tour through the legendary windmill factory is money well spent! If you are looking to get out and about this spring & summer, swing by the last 18th/19th century windmill factory left in the USA in downtown Nebraska City, NE!

02/15/2022

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT THE KREGEL FACTORY!

Kregel Windmill Company newspaper ads from 1904 through 1931, as seen here, were informative & entertaining to read! Here at the family run ELI windmill factory in Nebraska City, NE, the Kregel's made windmills, cattle tanks for farm livestock, beehives, & offered all sorts of farm & agricultural repair services!

It's been 143 years since the windmill factory opened in 1879, but the Kregel Family legacy still lives on today!

If you’re looking to get out & explore in 2022, stop by the one & only Kregel Windmill Factory Museum: the last original windmill factory now preserved as a museum in the USA! Tours are by appointment only until April 1, 2022. To schedule your guided windmill factory tour, please call the museum at 402-873-1078.