Dexter Horizontal Turbine
Horizontal Windmills have vanes that are mounted in a drum shape that turns on a vertical axis rather than on a horizontal hub like a propeller. They are relatively rare in the Western World and generally small in diameter and height. In 1868, Albert H. Southwick of Oskaloosa, Iowa (USA patented his design which became known as the Dexter Horizontal Windmill. Then around 1885, Sir Samuel McCaughey (famous pastoralist, politician and pioneer of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area) imported a Dexter kit and erected the windmill on ‘Coonong’ Station, to the west of Urana.
The Dexter stood for over 100 years at ‘Coonong’ before being seriously damaged in a bushfire in the 1990’s. In 1999 the current owners of ‘Coonong’ Station – the Holt family – gifted the remnants of the Dexter to the Urana Progress Association, and a small team of enthusiasts commenced it reconstruction. Eventually, the restored windmill was transported to Urana for re-erection opposite the Aquatic Reserve on Federation Way. It was officially opened to the Public in a ceremony on the morning of 21 June 2023.
The upper storey of the Dexter houses the rotor that consists of a novel arrangement of an inner fixed circle of vanes surrounded by an outer circle of pivoting shutters operated by rods to optimize capture of the wind.
Only four Dexters were brought to Australia. The Urana Dexter Horizontal Windmill is extremely rare, and is believed to be the only surviving example worldwide.
Dexter Horizontal Turbine location map.
References:
Dahlitz, Chris. Proposal to Nominate as Item of Engineering Heritage Interest, March 2024.
