If you'd like to learn how various types of windmills work as well as their local history, join the free tour Sunday, July 22 in Saline, where five different varieties of windmills will be on display. The tour runs from noon-5 p.m. and is part of a celebration of the Saline Area Historical Society's 25th anniversary.

Windmills were first built in Saline in the 1880s, and they were called the "Saline standard mill," according to Wayne Clements, chairman of the event.

"The tour will feature an original mill built at the Saline Windmill Factory that's made of wood," said Clements. "It was used by local farmers to pump water for the house and for livestock."

The tour also includes a steel mill and an air motor wind mill, which is the current type on the market. It's questionable whether the electric mill scheduled to be on the tour will make it back in time.

"They installed an electric mill at the Braun farm on Bemis Road in York Township but the wind blew it apart, and they had to send it to Italy to get it repaired," said Clements. "There will be a stop on the tour at the Bemis farm, but there might just be a tower without the electric mill."

Brothers Howard and Kelven Braun will answer questions about what happened to their electric mill.

A bus tour will run through the afternoon with a guide on board. All the locations are within in a 5-mile radius, and stops will include the Depot Museum, 402 N. Ann Arbor St., which is the first stop, and the Rentschler Farm Museum, 1265 E. Michigan Ave..

There will also be tours of a 1930s farmhouse and farm with animals as well as a furnished caboose.

For more information go to www.salinehistory.org.