{{Short description|American Windmill Manufacturer}} {{Infobox company | name = Aermotor Windmill Company | logo = Aermotor_Windmill_Company_logo_2018.png | type = | industry = Wind power | fate = | founded = <!-- if known: {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} in city, state, country --> | founder = <!-- or: | founders = --> | hq_location_city = San Angelo, Texas | hq_location_country = United States | area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = --> | key_people = | products = Windmills, wind-powered water pumps | owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> | num_employees = | num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) --> | parent = | website = https://aermotorwindmill.com/ }} The '''Aermotor Windmill Company''', or '''Aermotor Company''', is an American manufacturer of wind-powered water pumps. The widespread use of their distinctive wind pumps on ranches throughout the arid plains and deserts of the United States has made their design a quintessential image of the American West.

The company also manufactured galvanized steel fire lookout towers under the "Aermotor Corporation" name including a "7 x 7" model which supported a {{convert|7x7|ft|m|adj=on}} steel cab at heights from {{convert|35|ft|m}} to {{convert|175|ft|m}}. Hundreds of this model were in use in the southeastern U.S.; a dozen survived in the Northwestern U.S. in 1984.<ref name=nrhpdoc-Elliott>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=94000268}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Carey Dome Fire Lookout|publisher=National Park Service|author=John F. Elliott |date=July 10, 1992 |access-date=September 17, 2017 |page=9}} With {{NRHP url|id=94000268|photos=y|title=five photos from 1992}}.</ref>

==History== thumb|upright=0.5|1891 ad La Verne Noyes, founder of Aermotor Windmill Company, had hired engineer Thomas O. Perry for a different job but saw the potential of the all-metal windpump developed by Perry after extensive experiments.<ref name="gasengine">[http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/company-history/history-of-the-aermotor-windmill-corporation.aspx History of the Aermotor Windmill Corporation]</ref> The first Aermotor was sold in 1888, with 24 windmills in total being sold in the first year.<ref name="gasengine" /> Aermotor soon became a strong competitor among its contemporaries selling over 20,000 of its windmills by 1892. Over the next 30 years Aermotor grew and expanded, introducing accessories and variants on "the mathematical windmill."

La Verne Noyes died in 1919. He left the Aermotor Company to a tax paying trust, with 48 colleges and universities as beneficiaries.

Aermotor continued to innovate and manufacture windmills throughout World War II and helped to produce the top secret Norden bombsight.

During the latter part of the century ownership of the Aermotor Company changed hands and had its operation moved and expanded to new venues, including the country of Argentina; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Brentwood, Missouri; and Conway, Arkansas. By 1981, 80% of all windmills manufactured in The United States had their genesis in Conway. In 1998 Aermotor was purchased by Kees Verheul, as owner and president. It now operates from a {{convert|40000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} facility in San Angelo, Texas. In 2006, the company was purchased by a group of West Texas ranchers, and the name restored to its original from 1888..."The Aermotor Company".

==Products== [[File:Aermotor Windmill, Texas, 2010.JPG|thumb|An Aermotor water-pumping windmill in Texas near Denton]] [[File:GekelerFarmsWindmill.jpg|thumb|The defunct Aermotor Windmill at Gekeler Farms in Idaho]] thumb|upright|Aermotor windpump at the New Berlin Historical Society in New Berlin, Wisconsin

Besides the production of windmills from {{convert|6|to|16|ft|m|1|sp=us}} tall,<ref>[http://www.aermotorwindmill.com/Products/Index.asp Aermotor Windmill Products] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014235308/http://www.aermotorwindmill.com/Products/Index.asp |date=October 14, 2010 }}</ref> Aermotor also produces the towers on which a windmill sits. Four post towers come in steel (ranging from {{convert|21|to|60|ft|m|1|disp=or|sp=us}} tall) and wood (from {{convert|14|to|37|ft|m|1|disp=or|sp=us}} tall). Aermotor also produces and helps in procurement of the pump assembly and drilling.

===List of Aermotor Fire Towers and Windmills on the National Register of Historic Places=== * Arab Mountain Fire Observation Station, Arab Mountain, Piercefield, New York<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> * Azure Mountain Fire Observation Station, Azure Mountain, Waverly, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station, Balsam Lake Mountain, Hardenburgh, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station, Blue Mountain, Indian Lake, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Carey Dome Fire Lookout, Nez Perce National Forest, Burgdorf, Idaho * Crossroads Fire Tower, Hamburg, Arkansas<ref name="nris"/> * Hadley Mountain Fire Observation Station, Hadley Mountain, Hadley, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Hurricane Mountain Fire Observation Station, Hurricane Mountain Summit, Keene, New York<ref name="nris"/> * John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez, California * Kane Mountain Fire Observation Station, Kane Mountain, Caroga, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Lake Mountain Lookout, Lake Mountain, Lakeside, Arizona<ref name="nris"/><ref name=FLO>{{cite web |url=http://www.firelookout.org/lookouts/lo-arizona.html |publisher=firelookout.org |title=Arizona Lookouts |access-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-date=November 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109130037/http://www.firelookout.org/lookouts/lo-arizona.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station, Summit of Loon Lake Mountain, Franklin, New York<ref name="nris"/> * McKenzie Windmill, TN 58, Georgetown, Tennessee<ref name="nris"/> * Mount Adams Fire Observation Station, Mount Adams, Newcomb, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station, Mount Tremper, Shandaken, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Mountain Fire Lookout Tower, Forest Service Rd. 2335 (Tower Rd.) Lakewood Ranger District, Nicolet National Forest Riverview, Wisconsin<ref name="nris"/> * Mt. Beacon Fire Observation Tower, S. Beacon Mountain, Beacon, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain Fire Observation Station, Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain, Chesterfield, New York<ref name="nris"/> * PS Knoll Lookout, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Maverick, Arizona<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/ps-knoll-lookout/ |publisher=Forest Fire Lookout Association |title=PS Knoll Lookout |access-date=November 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013400/http://www.nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/ps-knoll-lookout/ |archive-date=2017-11-07 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=FLO /> * Red Hill Fire Observation Station, Red Hill, Denning, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station, Snowy Mountain, Indian Lake, New York<ref name="nris"/> * St. Regis Mountain Fire Observation Station, St. Regis Mountain, Santa Clara, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Utsayantha Mountain Fire Observation Station, Utsayantha Mountain, Stamford, New York<ref>{{cite web | url = http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/utsayantha-mountain-fire-tower/ | title = Utsayantha Mountain Fire Tower | date = 2019 | website = nhlr.org | publisher = National Historic Lookout Register | access-date = 2 July 2019 | quote = data}}</ref> * Wakely Mountain Fire Observation Station, Wakely Mountain, Lake Pleasant, New York<ref name="nris"/> * Warren County Fire Tower, 4.5&nbsp;mi. S of Warrenton on NC 58 S, Liberia, North Carolina<ref name="nris"/>

==Philanthropy== In 1918 the founder of Aermotor Windmill Company, La Verne Noyes, donated nearly $2.5 million USD to establish scholarships for veterans of World War I. The largest benefactors were University of Chicago and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, La Verne's alma mater. These scholarships are still available today. In addition, in 1913 Mr. Noyes gave a gift to the University of Chicago for a women's building which is the current Ida Noyes Hall, named for his wife.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Noyes|first1=La Verne|title=Letter to Henry Pratt Judson, President, University of Chicago|date=May 31, 1913|publisher=University of Chicago|location=Special Collections Research Center, Office of the President, Harper, Judson, and Burton Administrations, 1869-1925, Box 14, Folder 5, Part 1|page=7|url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/ofcpreshjb-0014-005-01.pdf|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.aermotorwindmill.com/ Aermotor Windmill Company official homepage] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n13h30aP-5g An interview with the president and owner of Aermotor, Kees Verheul] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n13h30aP-5g An interview with Kees Verheul which spotlights his company]

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* Category:Windpumps in the United States Category:Companies based in San Angelo, Texas Category:Manufacturing companies based in Texas Category:American companies established in 1888 Category:1888 establishments in Illinois Category:Windmills in the United States Category:Firefighting equipment