100 North Island Avenue
In its heyday, the Challenge Company was one of the most prolific manufacturers of windmills in the world. Founded in 1857 by Nelson Burr of Batavia as a manufacturer of wooden pumps, the company soon added many other types of farm equipment to its product list — including feed mills, hulling machines and corn shellers. Within a few years after the Civil War, it was producing more than 2000 windmills per year in a facility that sat on eight acres along the east side of the Fox River. The company was particularly known for its “Dandy” steel mill, considered to be a standard-bearer for durable steel wind engines.
The company prospered through the Second World War, when ownership changed hands and it was converted to the manufacture of shell casings for munitions. Unfortunately, the new owners were convicted of fraudulently obtaining many millions of dollars worth of war contracts. Their trial lasted nearly three months, and featured testimony from General Dwight Eisenhower, Secretary of State George Marshall, and Secretary of War Robert Patterson. Afterwards, the company was disbanded and the property leased to multiple different manufacturing businesses.
The Challenge Windmill remains arguably the most recognizable of the many contemporary windmill brands built not just in Batavia, but in the nation.
