Cut It Out! The Local Practice and History of Ice Harvesting
If you’ve hiked the Lake Trail at The White Memorial Conservation Center and continued onto the Ice House Ruins Trail, you’ve seen the ruins of a commercial ice harvesting operation that took place on Bantam Lake from 1908 to 1929 and included an icehouse the length of two football fields.A February 7 event, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at White Memorial, will explore that ice harvesting legacy.
Entitled Cut It Out! The Local Practice and History of Ice Harvesting, the experience will begin in the Nature Museum with a visit to the Ice House display, followed by a walk down the Lake Trail to visit the ice house ruins.
The program culminates with Jeff Greenwood, James Fischer, and Gerri Griswold of White Memorial demonstrating how ice was cut and moved using historic tools and methods. That part takes place on Ongley Pond, just down the hill from the museum and Conservation Center. Hot beverages and treats will be provided to fortify guests.
The cost is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Call 860-567-0857 or register online here: https://bit.ly/49xLmZz
For those who want to discover and explore sooner than the event or independently, the Ice House Ruins Trail is located along a portion of the yellow-blazed Lake Trail, which begins in the main area of the property near the museum.
There is a self-guided interpretive brochure to accompany the stops along the trail that’s available at the museum front desk or online here: https://whitememorialcc.org/…/ice-house-booklet-with…
You can also access the interpretive descriptions with your Smartphone via QR Codes on posts along the trail or at http://icehousetour.blogspot.com
Before the advent of the refrigerator, people kept food from spoiling by placing it in an icebox – a wooden cabinet with shelves for perishables and a large compartment for a block of ice to keep everything cold, White Memorial explains. These ice blocks were cut by farmers for family use and by crews employed by large commercial concerns. Both occurred at Bantam Lake. The commercial operation was centered on the north shore and involved one of the largest ice block storage facilities in southern New England. The company even had dormitories for workers and railroad service making the distribution of ice to distant cities possible.
The two most notable features of the ice house ruins are the pillars that supported an elaborate conveyor system that moved blocks of ice from Bantam Lake to the ice house, and a narrow 420-foot-long concrete canal.
As the ice cakes approached the elevator to the ice house they went through a planer which shaved the cakes to a uniform size. The resulting piles of ice chips and slush were carried away via the canal.
More info on the Ice House Ruins Trail:
More info on the ice house operations:
This event is presented in collaboration with America’s 250th in Litchfield, CT, which is coordinating a series of events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
A bonfire on North Street Extension in the center of Litchfield to officially launch the celebration is scheduled for Jan. 17, beginning at 4:45 p.m. Check the website www.A250Litchfield.org for more upcoming events.
