J.B. Buchanan Windmill Park
Spearman, TX
Photos
www.spearman.org/windmillhistory.html , spearman@arn.net , 806-659-5555
In Spearman, the park is on Highway 207 S just west of the intersection with TX 15.
Free, daily
GPS Coordinates: N 36°11.242, W 101°12.381
Founder of the modern movement to conserve and restore vintage windmills, Mr. J.B. Buchanan donated his collection to the city of Spearman. It was his passion for windmills that led to the growth of similar collections across the Great Plains . A massive 18-foot mill has recently been added, and a 20-foot Aermotor is also slated for addition to the collection. With 50 mills, many businesses have adopted vintage windmills and put them on display. It feels like “ Windmill , U.S.A. ” as you pass the banks, the court house, and other businesses that have restored these beautiful machines.
Great Plains Windpower Turbine
Spearman, TX
www.spearman.org/windmillhistory.html , spearman@arn.net , 806-659-5555
Go W on Hwy15 W for app. 4 miles turning North on FM 2387. Take FM 1261 S at the stop sign W on CR H sharp N on CR17
Free, daily
GPS Coordinates: N36 28.380, W101 19.651
This is one of the four largest wind turbines in North America .
This travel report by Gina Gillispie:
Where does the Windpower Trail end and where does it begin? This question will be answered with as much variety as people roving the route. But, for conversation's sake, let's say that you've left Woodward and Shattuck, traveled through Higgins, and are on your way to Spearman. You could turn west on Hwy 760 or you could take the scenic route through Canadian and Wolf Creek, crossing the state line with only a hint of change.
I must recommend the trip from Canadian to Spearman, as it is truly breathtaking. One must imagine what heaven it must have been for the weary pioneers traveling by wagon, to enter these gently rolling plains, an oasis in the midst of the flat lands. You will enjoy a variety of right of way windmills, but be prepared to be captivated by the view. It's not uncommon to see large herds of deer or antelope grazing in the distant pastures, and be certain the sky will be filled with blue and birds.
As you make your way into the town of Spearman , you will find a progressive and happening little town. The folks here are friendly, remember, Texas is nicknamed the “ Friendly State ”. And you might just get to see a real live Texas cowboy with his real live horse and trailer, parked at a hot lunch spot for a bite to eat. If you aren't from around here, this might entice you to use some of that film in your camera for cowboy poses instead of windmills. Be assured there's plenty of both.
Spearman is home to the World Famous J.B. Buchanan Windmill Collection. Mr. Buchanan's collection was once located at his homeplace (this is what they call your house when you live on a farm) which was fourteen miles South on Hwy. 207. However, in 1997, the collection was donated to the city of Spearman and was taken down, lovingly restored, and relocated to the J.B. Buchanan Windmill Park just on the edge of Spearman. One of Mr. Buchanan's windmills resides in the Smithsonian, which proves the magnitude of the windmill's impact on settlement of the Plains.
Spearman has claimed this collection of windmills and embraced the idea of becoming known as “The Windmill Town”. The collection includes such a variety of vintage mills that you could linger all day absorbing the beauty and history. It also has Lake Palo Duro, a winter nesting site for the American Bald Eagle; Lindbergh landed here in 1927; and is located twenty miles from the famous Adobe Walls Battle site. In case you might want to spend a little more time here exploring other interesting things, there are five quaint bed & breakfasts to make you feel at home and offer you a place to mosey a spell.
Spearman is a mixture of old and new, as most Texas Panhandle towns are. Hanging on to the past is one of the things we do best. If you head west (or any other direction for that matter), and get in just the right spot, the panorama extends miles and miles, with nothing else in view except the sky meeting the horizon. This is how it must have looked thousands of years ago and exactly why it is called the High Plains.
Feast your eyes on acres upon acres of wheat, corn, and milo, and discover what REAL crop circles look like. Amid the irrigated land, you can also see miles of boot-high golden silver grass swaying in the breeze…evidence of the invisible energy that has made it's way from our past into our future…and that energy is the wind…the wind that ripples the grass as a pebble ripples a pond. The contrast of wild winter grass against an azure sky is alluring, but you may wonder why in the world someone would choose to live in this lonely, wide open place, until you look around and see it… really see it…. freedom …as compelling as the path of wind across the grass.
Let yourself become a bird on a wire. Your view from here takes some time to get used to. Larkspur, Rough Legged Hawks, Killdeer, Texas Tumbleweeds, flatness, dirt. And then you become aware of the human touch entering into this equation….barbed wire, cedar fences, pumpjacks, granaries, herds of cattle, and ruts in the caliche roads made by rain and trucks.
You are in a sci-fi daydream….among all this nothing, comes into view, a giant and “Watt a Giant”…one of four of the largest wind turbines in the world today! This massive structure enjoys its own freedom. It stands boldly against the horizon with its modernism totally out of place. It's like all the rest of its similar beings…”something” smack dab in the middle of nothing.
After a few ooohs and aaahhs, its time to head back into town. Take time for a coffee break and get in on some of the gossip. It's known fact in Spearman, that the best tellers of tall tales are the men at the coffee shop. It's been said of a certain table in town that there's a lot that gets talked about at that table and by gosh! It's all true! If you're lucky, you just might get to share a piece of pie with one of the Amalgamated Windmill Workers of America, Spearman's only “union” whose sole purpose in life (other than restoring vintage mills) is to coffee break. It's a wonder the town has fifty mills standing.
But, it does, and it is because of them. The Amalgamators are a self-taught group of individuals, and one talented painter named Wanda. They have learned to pour babbit, reconstruct vanes, and negotiate trades across the Mid-West. They have created a one of a kind arena whereby the mills are adopted by local businesses and proudly displayed all over town, thus making the entire community one large outdoor museum of windmill history. This strategy was concocted to include you in our quality of life. You are wanted here…for a long time.
The collection has some rare finds indeed, including the Woodmanse Model S on a cable tower, which seems to be the only one like it in the world. And they also boast of a rare 12' Aermotor that was manufactured for only one in year 1915, and is a water-pumping working windmill with a depth of 495 feet. The variety is outstanding by any measure, and savvy windmillers will recognize the names…Zephyr, Butler , Monitor, Clipper, Eli, Eclipse, Challenge, Perkins, and so much more. The John Deere place even has its own John Deere mill. This extensive collection made the town an excellent location to host the International Windmill Tradefair in 2002 and they plan to make a bid to host it again in 2007. The windmillers come from all over the country for one thing and one thing only….to buy, sell, and trade…IRON…or as we pronounce in this part of the world…”urn”.
If you can bear to leave this sassy little town, you still have lots to look forward to. Remember, the land is flat, and on a clear day you will be able to see many of the towns ahead of you (at night at least twenty six miles!). Wide open space, freedom to kick off your new pointy toe cowboy boots, unsnap your pearl snap shirt, put your “pedal to the metal” and travel on South to Lubbock with a few good stops in between….you might even come across another kind of icon down there….best to “Get Your Guns Up!”
