STANTON - The tower on the Connell house lawn is no longer empty, the windmill has returned! The windmill was sent for repairs in September of 2019.
On Monday, April 19, 2021, the newly restored windmill was once again placed in position in front of the historic home on Convent Street.
It is a standard windmill, made by the F.W. Axtell Manufacturing Company of Fort Worth. Eddie Sosa of Lubbock was able to repair, repaint and restore it with help from his son, Nathan Sosa.
A crew from ktx electric consisting of Chris Almaguer, Jose Luis Cazares, Andrew Saldana, Ricky Rangel and Adrian Rodriguez helped with the installation. After securing the Connell house windmill on its tower, the group also removed the windmill at the Martin County Historical Museum so that it could be hauled to Lubbock for restoration.
Both windmills were originally donated to the museum by the Raymond Glasscock and Roscoe Hazlewood families in the 1980's. Raymond Glasscock and Maurice Connell had repaired them prior to their being donated to the museum.
Additional repairs were provided by Wendell A.Thomason in 2005. A contribution from QEP Resources helped provide the latest round of repairs.
We owe a debt of gratitude to all of those who have helped save these windmills through the years.
Windmills may not be as common as they once were but they are an important part of the history of this region and it just feels right to see the Connell house windmill back in place!