History of the area
Henry Frederick Fischer began windmill construction in 1865 after acquiring the farmland from his father, Frederick L. Fischer (as an interesting side note, Henry’s brothers-in-law, William Asche and Frederick Graue, bought an old water-powered sawmill site years before. They first built a sawmill, then a brick gristmill, now known as the Graue Mill). The typical Dutch smock windmill was among the first of its kind to be built in the Chicago area. Fischer built the mill with parts from a prefabricated kit imported from the Netherlands that was assembled with the help of two Dutch millwrights and local farmers, including Christian Heidemann, whose own windmill (that was in Addison, Illinois until it burned down in 1958) was based on Fischer’s design. During construction, it is believed that alterations were made to the mill’s height and design which probably caused its construction to span three years. The mill began grinding in 1867.
Just ten years after opening, Fischer sold the mill and 10 acres (40,000 m2) to Edward Ehlers for $10,000. Fischer moved his family to Oregon where, three years later, he sold another twenty-one acres to Ehlers. Competition from other area mills and a steady decline in wheat farming in Illinois began to hurt Ehlers’ “Addison Mills”.
Caroline, the widow of Edward Ehlers (and daughter of Henry Korthauer, one of the original mill builders), sold the farm and the windmill to the Mount Emblem Cemetery Association for $10,000 in 1925. The association planned to convert the land into a cemetery. Although the windmill and farm buildings were scheduled for demolition, the association instead hired Henry and Franklyn Ehlers, Edward’s sons, to preserve the mill as a museum. They rebuilt the sails, installed new shingles and trim on the exterior, painted the mill, and purposely dismantled some of the inner gearing to better show their use. The sails were turned to an ‘X’ formation, which traditionally means the mill is in “a long rest period”. They also turned the cap to the northeast toward the cemetery’s entrance. A barn, the only other structure that survived demolition, was home to the groundskeeper, but was recently destroyed.
Cemetery design
The administration building, along with the cemetery’s entrance gates and bridges, were designed to resemble English architecture of the 1860s, supposedly to “match” the styles used when the windmill was built; however, these copper and stone English structures only contrast with the Dutch woodwork of the mill. Since the cemetery's dedication in June 1936, the mill plays music on Sundays and holidays from loudspeakers in the third floor windows. It took eleven years for the architects of Simonds, West, & Blair to transform 75 acres (of what is now over 90 acres) of flat farmland into a picturesque, tranquil scene with tens of thousands of new trees and shrubs as well as the creation of Lake Emblem. Over the years, the Fischer Windmill became an historical local icon and the subject of artists’ paintings. In 1956 Mount Emblem was awarded for its preservation of the mill as a public service by the DuPage County Historical Society.
The cemetery itself opened as a Masonic Cemetery. It was heavily advertised in local newspapers as "Illinois' Most Beautiful Cemetery; Without the Gates of the City." One of the other emblems of the cemetery is a monument of three pillars, symbolizing Faith, Hope, and Charity, located at the far west end. In later years, a mausoleum was constructed.
Most of the sections in the cemetery are crudely named for letters of the alphabet, but special sections are formally named. The "Garden of Eden" is that area directly in front of the windmill leading up to Lake Emblem, surrounded on either side by lilac bushes. The "Veneration" and "Twilight" sections are home to most of the monument graves. "Reverence" has the Veteran's Garden. "Eventide" is home to the mausoleum, lawn crypt, and eternal flame feature.
Current developments
Land to the south of the cemetery grounds, once thought to be used for expansion, was sold in 2005 for the construction of a factory. Around the same time, the association hired landscape architects to rebuild the deteriorating shores of the creek and Lake Emblem. New trees have also been planted throughout the land.
Over the years, the windmill fell victim to "tail-winding," where the wind blows against the back of the mill, causing great damage to the sails and cap. New, smaller, light-weight sails have been bolted to the mill's cap, designed to allow the wind to pass through (rather than turn) the mill; however, the deteriorating structure was closed to the public in the early 1990s.
In April 2015, major renovations to the windmill began. Though not restored to operating condition, worked replaced the rotting shingles, stage, beams, and floorboards. Workers also demolished the north and east wings to strengthen the foundation and stone base of the tower. Renovations completed in October 2015 and the mill was rededicated on November 7, 2015.
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, by tradition specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but in some parts of the English-speaking world the term has also been extended to encompass windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications. The term wind engine is also sometimes used to describe such devices.
DuPage County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is Wheaton.
Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago.
Addison Township is one of nine townships in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 88,351 and it contained 32,306 housing units.
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The Graue Mill is a water-powered grist mill that was originally erected in 1852. Now a museum, it is one of two operating water-powered gristmills in Illinois. It is located on Salt Creek in Oak Brook, Illinois, owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
Churchville School, also known as Fischer School, is a former school building located in unincorporated Bensenville, Illinois.
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Nutley Windmill is a grade II* listed open trestle post mill at Nutley, East Sussex, England which has been restored to working order.
Thelnetham Windmill, also known as Button's Mill is a Grade II* listed tower mill constructed of brick. The windmill is located at Thelnetham, Suffolk, England. It was built in the early nineteenth century to grind wheat into flour. Thelnetham windmill worked by wind power until 1924, latterly on two sails, after which it became derelict.
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Fabyan Villa was the home of George and Nelle Fabyan from c. 1908 to 1939. The house is notable because of its remodelling in 1907 by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was the centerpiece of the Fabyans country estate, which they named Riverbank. The Kane County Forest Preserve District of Illinois purchased the majority of the Fabyan estate in 1939, and operated the Fabyans' home as a museum off and on beginning in 1940. In 1995 Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley was enlisted to operate the site and developed the Fabyan Villa Museum into a Fabyan historic home museum, where photographs, the Fabyans' personal artifact collections, and a limited number of original furnishings, as well as the Riverbank story are shared with the public.
De Gans is a smock mill in Ezumazijl, Friesland, Netherlands which has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 31571.
Welgelegen or Tjepkema's Molen is a smock mill in Heerenveen, Friesland, Netherlands, which was built in 1849 and has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, No. 21171.
The Buitenmolen is a tower mill in Zevenaar, Netherlands that was restored to working order in 1970. The mill was built in the beginning of the sixteenth century and is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 40427.
De Kroon or the Klarendalse Molen is a tower mill in Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands which was built in 1870 and is in working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument.
De Kempermolen is a tower mill in Breedenbroek, Gelderland, Netherlands which was built in 1882 and has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument.
