To Build a Village – The Windmill Gary Dyck, Blog Coordinator The MHV windmill is the only wind-operational windmill in Canada. The Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) windmill, our signature building, is a replica of the largest of four windmills built in the Steinbach area in the years 1876 to 1878. The original Smock type windmill, was built in 1877. Peter K. Barkman, a millwright and miller from Russia, built the structure for A.S. Friesen, one of the community founders. The logs used for the cornerposts were cut in the La Broquerie-Marchand area and nearly all the parts, including those of iron, were manufactured locally.