Columbus Motel

Located in the largest Danish community in the United States, Elk Horn, Iowa the Danish Windmill is the only working windmill in the United States. It was originally built and used in Norre Snede, Denmark in 1848. A group of citizens of Elk Horn wanted to bring a windmill to Elk Horn and found this one which was being used to generate electricity in 1975. They arranged for Danish craftsmen to disassemble and carefully mark the parts. They were then shipped to Elk Horn arriving in November of 1975. There they were carefully reassembled over the course of 1976 to its current working condition with a stone mill and wooded gears. There is a gift shop, which is free to enter but a tour of the building costs $2. The hours of operation is Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Sunday hours 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The windmill is located in the centre of town. It is open every day of the year except Christmas and New Years Day.