Until yesterday, Windmill Corner at Hawea Flat had been bereft of its namesake feature for more than 40 years.
A 9m-high replica windmill was put up yesterday after more than two years of planning by the Upper Clutha Historical Records Society.
It stands as a monument to an original windmill built more than a century ago to pump water from a 20m-deep well, which provided reticulation to the Hawea Flat township.
Society president Graeme Dickson said the windmill had become obsolete when elec-tricity arrived in the 1940s, but had remained as a feature of the Hawea Flat landscape.
"Unfortunately, no-one seems to have any photos of the original windmill, but many older and long-time Upper Clutha residents remember it well," he said.
Windmill designer, engineer and former Hawea Flat resident Graham Taylor said Windmill Corner was the original township centre in "the early days" when the area supported two hotels, a store and a blacksmith and was on the main road between Christchurch and Wanaka.
The windmill replica sits beside the pumphouse and storage tanks, built in 1917, which also provided water for agriculture in the arid area.
Hawea Flat previously had no water source or creeks for township residents and farmers, Mr Taylor said.
An official opening and dedication ceremony was to be held soon at the site, Mr Dickson said.
