Pella, Iowa

An 1800s-style windmill stands in defiance of the wind, just off the town square of Pella, Iowa. This korenmolen, meaning corn mill in Dutch, boasts the record as the largest authentic windmill in America. The windmill serves as one of many examples of the Dutch traditions of Pella.

The Pella community of about 10,000 lives among a dappling of buildings that display a 19th century Dutch façade. Stores bearing names such as Bisschopswijn, Jaarsma Bakery and Van Den Berg’s Limited enhance the town’s Dutch culture by selling authentic Dutch products.
Jim Brandl, a retired businessman turned tour guide for the Vermeer Mill and Interpretive Center, said Pella has striven to preserve the town’s Dutch culture.

Over the years, the Pella Historical Society has worked hard to promote Pella as a place for visitors to view Dutch architecture and ways of living.

Originally settled in 1843, Dutch immigrants established Pella as a safe haven to escape from the religious persecution that plagued them in their homeland. In the Netherlands, the Dutch built many windmills because running water is scarce. Because rivers and streams stripe the Midwest, water could power the mills in Pella instead of wind. Despite the frequency and utility of windmills in their homeland, the original settlers chose not to build a windmill in Pella.

In the late 1990s, the Pella Historical Society decided to add to the Dutch culture of their community, investigating various ways to bring a windmill, the hallmark of Holland, into rural Iowa. The Dutch government rejected the idea of taking a fully constructed windmill from the Netherlands because all windmills are declared national treasures. The society contacted Verbij, a Dutch windmill company, to build a windmill in Holland and ship it in pieces to be constructed in Pella.

The small town raised $3.2 million in just six weeks to help fund the project.

“Pella is an unusual town,” Brandl said. “Dutch frugality is notorious, but if you touch a nerve, that frugality turns into generosity.”

That generosity turned into a booming tourist attraction. Since the opening of the Vermeer Mill in the spring of 2002, tour buses, individuals and international visitors have made the trip to rural Iowa. During the spring and summer, eight tour groups go through the mill each day, totaling about 22,000 visitors a year over the course of the tourist season.

Brandl wears a name tag reading “Molenaar,” meaning miller. He explains that he is one of the few who can run the working mill as he guides visitors through the four-story structure.

The tour takes visitors up into the windmill. Eclectic types of wood from across the globe — purple heart from South America, deep mahogany from Indonesia — comprise the various components of the working mill. Brandl gives introductory information about the mill and its history on the ground floor. At the second level, Brandl notes the replica residence of a miller in the 19th century. The third story is filled with an 1800s motherboard — the gears and cogs of the mill all interlocking and interdependent for grinding. The fourth level leads to an outside veranda wrapping around the mill where visitors can closely observe the blades as they catch the wind from above the town. Brandl describes how the cap rotates to use the most efficient wind currents.

“If the wind is coming out of the north, the cap should face north,” Brandl said. “There are lots of similarities between windmills and sailing ships.”

The mill is so efficient that it only runs about one day a month because in one hour, the mill produces 500 pounds of flour. Some of the grain goes to a local bakery for use in bread, revealing another stitch in this tight-knit community.

A short walk to the town square from the windmill, Jaarsma Bakery creates homemade baked goods with the little extra charm of Vermeer Mill’s flour in the dough. About a block away, another sweet aroma escapes from a store bearing the name Van Veen’s Chocolates. On the door hangs a sign with the hours that also reads, “If you have a chocolate emergency, please call” with a cell phone number to reach the Van Veens if they are not in the shop. A step into the store is met by a wave of bold candy fragrance. Behind the counter, the Van Veens, an elderly couple, stand ready to discuss their handmade candies.

“We started making candy in ’95 at home,” Chuck Van Veen said.

They opened their location in time for Tulip Time in 2002. Tulip Time is a three-day festival of all things Dutch that takes place annually in the spring. Tourists flood the town for a little taste of the Netherlands. The streets are all flanked by row after row of brilliantly budding tulips, while local businesses fling open their doors among a flurry of tours and other attractions.

“Pella is a different type of community,” Van Veen said, referencing the community effort to remain close to Dutch culture.

Van Veen said a city ordinance requires the construction of all storefronts in an 1800s Dutch fashion with limited neon signs. Even the local Wal-Mart had to comply with the ordinance.

Down the street, De Pelikaan, a gift shop selling all varieties of Dutch imports, offers souvenirs for visitors. Named after a shop in the Netherlands, the store carries everything from imported Dutch lace to tiles. The owner, Betty Bogaard, said that these tiles are important to Dutch culture.

“It is a tradition for these tiles to be given as a rite of passage, [such as coming of age or marriage],” Bogaard said.

Imported plates decorated with delft, a type of tin glaze typically associated with white and navy Dutch design, can be seen from the front windows. Next to the delft, Hendelopen, an intricate style of painting popularized in the Dutch village by the same name, creates vivid accounts of Dutch life on various pieces.

As a community, Pella honors its heritage through architecture, Tulip Time and a modern life with a thoroughly 1800s Dutch twist. The enthusiastic members of the Pella community will share their rich culture with any visitor.

Photos by Faith Maslonka

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