Photo: “Hauling Ice”

Ice harvests were common over the centuries, as people experimented with saving the winter's ice in underground storage for the preservation of certain foods. The first ice-houses were built below ground with drainage to prevent melting. The first American patent for an icehouse design was granted in 1665 to Sir William Berkeley, later a governor of Virginia. At that time, icehouses were sometimes buried under sod, double-walled, and had ceiling recesses stuffed with straw. George Washington experimented with ice houses and Thomas Jefferson had an icehouse at Monticello that was 16 feet deep and could hold 62 wagonloads of ice. Families who were not wealthy enough to have an ice-house used their barns, cellars, and wells to store ice packed with straw.

The ice harvest usually began in late January or early February when the ice was from twelve to eighteen inches thick. The ice was cleared of snow and then laid out in grids for cutting. Cuts were made by a horse-drawn two-blade cutter. One blade made the primary cut, a second blade made a deeper cut. The last cuts were made with ice saws or ice axes.