{"nrhp_refnum":"82002605","name":"Peotone Mill","other_names":["Peotone Steam Mill"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"433 W. Corning Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Peotone","county":"Will County","state":"IL","lat":41.33232252600004,"lon":-87.79796156599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-03-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Dutch-style octagonal smock windmill grist mill at 427 West Corning Avenue (originally listed as 433), Peotone, Will County, Illinois, built about 1870-1872 by Holland millwrights, with a later brick engine house behind it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill shows true Holland smock mill construction and is one of very few of its kind in Illinois and the Midwest. It also had agricultural and economic importance, grinding local wheat and rye and later grain shipped in by rail for redistribution to nearby towns.","narrative":"Peotone Mill is an octagonal windmill built in the early 1870s in the Holland plan, a Dutch smock mill design. Millwrights from Holland built it, and an 1871 deed and an 1873 atlas entry tie it to Frederick Rathje and Cristoph Elling. Its slanting walls rest on a limestone foundation and are covered in wood shingles, with a rotating wooden cap and five floors of hand-hewn timber frame joined with wooden pegs. Henry A. Rathje operated it for about twelve years. It was converted to steam power in the 1880s, and a brick engine house was added behind it. Grinding of local wheat and rye, and later grain brought in by rail for distribution to nearby towns, gave the mill economic importance. Grinding ceased by the late 1880s according to the amendment, though the earlier form says the early 1920s. It is listed as a rare surviving example of Dutch windmill construction in Illinois and the Midwest.","period_of_significance":"1872","architect_builder":"Unknown Holland millwrights; built for Frederick Rathje and Cristoph Elling (Elling & Rathje), later operated by Henry A. Rathje","architectural_style":"Holland Plan smock windmill (octagonal Dutch windmill)","criteria":[],"status_note":"The 1981 nomination lists the mill as unoccupied and vacant, basically sound but needing attention, with the fans and much of the interior machinery missing. A 2004 amendment lists the Village of Peotone as owner.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.842772-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/8943/28894307/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82002605.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002605/1a0e35ed62-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002605/1a0e35ed62-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"BigTomEH","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PEOTONE013.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">BigTomEH</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PEOTONE013.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894307","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peotone_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7166168"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/will-county/peotone-mill-82002605/"}