It’s not every day you see a Dutch-type windmill in Oregon (the wind-turbine models are fairly common, though). When I saw this structure in Baker City, I thought I’d do a little bit of research to see what the back story was. Here’s what I came up with:
The windmill is thought to have been constructed by John Bootsma, a local entrepreneur and farm equipment manufacturer of Dutch descent, in the late 20th century. He was doing a real estate development down the road and thought the windmill would be a good advertisement. The development fizzled and when Bootsma died in 2010 the windmill was abandoned. Over the years the weather in the area took its toll and the current state of decay has resulted.
It remains a striking structure, standing some 40 or 50 feet high. The dark stormy sky in the background provides nice contrast with the white paint of the windmill. It’s located just north of the I-84 freeway, so be sure to keep an eye out for it when you’re heading to or from southern Idaho.
