American Wind Power Center facts for kids
American Wind Power Center
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| Location | Lubbock, Texas, Texas, United States |
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The American Wind Power Center is a cool museum in Lubbock, Texas. It's a place where you can learn all about wind power and see many different kinds of windmills. The museum is huge, covering about 28 acres of land. It has more than 160 American-style windmills on display!
How the Museum Started
The American Wind Power Center was created in 1993. It was started by two people: Miss Billie Wolfe and Coy F. Harris. Miss Wolfe was a teacher at Texas Tech University. She started looking for windmills way back in the 1960s.
She took pictures and wrote down information about windmills all over the country. She wanted people to save the old windmills that were still standing. About 30 years later, some people had fixed up many old windmills. Miss Wolfe found one of these collections in Mitchell, Nebraska.
Coy F. Harris worked with Miss Wolfe. He helped take apart and move 48 of these rare windmills to Lubbock. These windmills were kept in storage for a few years.
In 1997, the City of Lubbock gave land for the museum. Mr. Harris and many volunteers moved the windmills to this new spot. They set up some windmills outside and put others inside a small exhibit building. In 1999, a much bigger building became available. Mr. Harris moved this building to the park site. He changed parts of the building to make it perfect for showing off the windmills.
What You Can See Today
Today, the museum has more than 100 rare and old water-pumping windmills inside. Another 60 windmills are set up outside on the grounds. Many of these outdoor windmills still pump water!
Besides the water-pumping windmills, you can also see wind electric machines. Some of these machines are very old, from the early 1920s. A very large Vestas V47 wind turbine stands tall on the museum grounds. This turbine is 50 meters (about 164 feet) tall. It makes enough electricity to power the whole museum for a year. If there's extra power, it's sold to the local power company.
On June 22, 2016, the museum opened a new part. This new section is about 33,000 square feet. It has a huge "G" scale train display. This display shows scenes from the early 1900s. Back then, windmills and trains were both very important for life. This part of the museum also has the Alta Reeds miniature house collection.
Gallery
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Windmills on display at the American Wind Power Center
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Vestas V47 wind turbine
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Another wind turbine
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The Aermotor Windmill was first built in Chicago. It is the only American brand still made today. It is produced in San Angelo, Texas.
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A chuckwagon exhibit at the Wind Power Center
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Windmill gears
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Windmill pump
See also
