Pella Windmill & Historical Village

Pella is a Dutch-heritage community of approximately 10,000 residents in Marion County, Iowa, founded in 1847 by Dutch immigrants led by Hendrik Scholte and located 40 miles southeast of Des Moines via IA-163. The centerpiece attraction is the Vermeer Mill — a fully functional Dutch windmill standing 124 feet tall on Franklin Street — which is the tallest working windmill in the United States, constructed in 2002 using traditional Dutch craftsmanship and materials imported from the Netherlands. Adjacent to the mill, the Pella Historical Village at 507 Franklin St encompasses 21 historical buildings collected from the surrounding region, including Scholte House (the original 1848 stone home of the colony's founder), a one-room schoolhouse, a working blacksmith shop, and period domestic dwellings. Visitors climb through the windmill's interior on multiple levels to observe the traditional wooden gearing and millstones while gaining elevated views over Pella's rooftops; the mill grinds grain that is sold as flour in the gift shop. Costumed interpreters demonstrate period crafts in the village buildings during peak season. The historic Molengracht town square — Molengracht being Dutch for 'mill canal' — surrounds a decorative canal with Dutch-style footbridges and painted commercial façades. Pella's Tulip Time Festival, held during the second full week of May, draws over 150,000 visitors for street-scrubbing ceremonies, Dutch folk dances, parade floats, and thousands of tulip bulbs planted citywide. General admission to the Historical Village ($12 adults, $6 children) includes access to the windmill and all 21 buildings.