Windmont Park Mural

The mural was painted by Kewanee High School Art League students in 2004 under the direction of their teacher Susan Blake.

Windmont Park, origin of name not known, was developed by Kewanee’s streetcar company between 1904 and 1906. The park served two purposes—housing facilities needed to operate its streetcar system and providing recreational facilities for residents of Kewanee and Wethersfield. Of course, residents were expected to benefit the company by using its streetcars to get to the park.

The facilities needed to operate the trolley system included a powerhouse to produce electricity to run the cars, a water tower and a lake needed for the steam engines that powered turbines, and a car barn for the company’s streetcars. All were built in 1904 and removed in the 1930s after the cars stopped running.

The recreational facilities that were opened in 1906 included the lake for boating, swimming, fishing and ice skating, many acres of grounds for picnics and a grand pavilion for parties, band concerts, plays, vaudeville shows and dances. The pavilion, shown in the mural, was located where the park’s shelter house is today. It burned down in 1930 and was not replaced.

With the loss of the pavilion and the end of the streetcar system in the 1930s, the park was neglected and fell into disuse until it was restored by the Kewanee Park District, which acquired the park in 1937.