Before Electrification by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided federal funding for installation of electrical distribution systems to serve rural areas of the United States.
Farmers and ranchers in rural America used windmills exactly like this to power their water pumps until electricity came to their individual properties.
This relic of an earlier time stands on the farm of a friend of mine in Leavenworth, Kansas. It still works!
Tomorrow I plan to upload his beautiful old barn for my 200th posting.
Thanks for stopping by. Any and all comments are most welcome.
Bill
This old windmill stands next to the barn shown here: Afternoon Shadows

Comments (27)
Gorgeous shot
Great Capture! Farmers still use wind turbines today to generate power and savings for their farms. I was talking to a farmer up around Ohio and him and almost every single neighbor have put up wind turbines they have designed and built themselves. He was saying the blades are the hardest part about it.
Great shot. Saw one of these this afternoon but not in the good shape this one is in. We missed you not being here for the fun a games this weekend...One from class of 61, one from 57. here plus the crew from Fla... Cheers and best. Skipper
These are the old ones, funny we've rediscovered wind power. Love the POV, this is one TALL windmill!!
Wonderful capture! There's really nothing new under the sun, is there? I love these old windmills.
Great shot of the old use of natural power, I'll have to congratulate you now for your 200th upload tomorrow, well done Bill!
WONDERFUL SHOT I LIKE STUFF LIKE THIS IT'S A GREAT SHOT
Bill, I've always loved these windmills. While the rest of the world has turned to wind machines and solar pannels, I am trying to figure out how to put one of these babies in my back yard. I like how you showed perspective - the actual size is incredibly tall!
A quite beautiful and elegant structure!
and it still makes sense ...
Good capture, Bill. Perhaps the windbreak trees have saved this tall beauty. These turbines often precessed in high winds (when the tail/rudder mechanism failed to turn it edge to the blast), and tore themselves off their towers. A real piece of history.
Lovely shot, Bill, old windmills always have such charm, and this pov makes it seem even taller than when just driving down the highways. Very nice historical rural shot.
Excellent shot and wonderful history text thank you Bill.
A shot of times gone by! We used to have a few of these scattered around the UK as well. Don't see many now though!! Again, the times.... Beautiful, clear skies. Stunning picture my friend. Rob.
Fantastic bit of history.... Love your combination of history, photography & journalism...!!!! Look forward to your 200th post...!!!!
To think that we are bringing these back! Great find and shot Bill!
Ahh! A simpler time. Someone once said that our technology has surpassed our humanity. I hope not. Great shot! :)
Great capture, Bill! I saw a lotta windmills of this kind, especially on western side of Texas. I'd use one like that too, to avoid a huge bill!!!
Wonderful windmill. Thanks for sharing.
Good olde wind power!
ah the independent days...smile.. nice to see this old one and I would keep it going...you never know what lies ahead...smile
Love this shot Bill. A very common sight around rural Arizona still.
Stellar clarity and color in this shot of the antiquated source of power, Bill! I love wind power: clean, cheap, but not exactly a dependable source of energy when needed.
there are still several around here but mostly in parks and not working.superb foto
It probably still works as these were made in a time of quality and craftsmanship when the farmer couldn't afford break downs of equipment. Stunning Bill and lets hope it stays there for a long time to come.
Great shot
Great job of showing how really tall this one is.