Irvington Icehouse History

The Irvington Ice and Coal Company began operation in 1916. The company was founded in the city of Irvington by a few local businessmen eager to fulfill a growing need for ice. It was near the commercial area of Irvington served by trains and streetcars, and situated adjacent to the railroad tracks. The building was very industrial in appearance, and slightly more modern than the other commercial buildings in Irvington. There was little adornment, no fancy awnings or architectural features, and the front entrance was easy to ignore.

The original Plat Plan showing a basic layout and floorplan

You can imagine trying to get a building like this put into a suburban neighborhood these days, it would be difficult if not impossible. Of course, we have records of opposition to its "offensive architecture" by the neighbors so it's clear that it wasn't easy back then either. The neighborhood continued expanding beyond the icehouse for some time, but when times got rough the railroad tracks seemed to be the dividing line and now the building is squarely on the wrong side. We are the first property outside the Irvington Historic District, which is truly a wonderful place.

The picture above captured a moment early in the history of the company. It's a picture of a summer morning where the drivers are just about to start making their deliveries. Icehouses were full of modern technology and their product really benefitted everyone's daily life. It made ice (and therefore fresh food) readily available and certainly improved people's diets. But let's get back to the building.

The company also sold coal during the winter, as was common practice for these businesses. The large piles in the photo above are actually huge chunks of coal. The railroad would deliver a large supply and the coal was stored on site throughout the winter.

Smaller rail tracks on the property allowed special vehicles to move and load the coal onto waiting trucks or carts. From there the coal was sold at the storefront or delivered in a similar manner to the ice blocks. I don't rightly know what the little shed was for, but maybe to keep the residential orders out of the rain and ready for immediate sale.

Company letterhead from 1929

This model of business continued until self-refrigerating iceboxes became available. Ice wasn't necessary anymore, so coal and heating oil became the important products. I believe ice was still sold, but not made on-site.

Here's a heating fuel delivery truck circa 1960's just about to go out for a delivery. At this point the icehouse building has been through several changes. The steel framed windows have been replaced with glass block. The ice-making machinery inside has likely all been sold off or scrapped, and the business has moved into the smaller commercial annex. While the Irvington Ice & Fuel company continued to deliver to the neighborhood, competition from other service providers and modern technology made it uneconomical to operate much longer. The property was sold in the mid-1960's, but the heating oil delivery business stayed on site much longer.

The second owner was Custom Models Inc. This company specialized in sheetmetal fabrication and prototyping. Major clients included RCA. All those TV's and VCR's were first prototyped, and shops like this one created the sheetmetal forms to attach all the components to. It was a great business to be in at that time.

As you can see from the photo above, Custom Models made some large changes to the property. All of the original rooflines were overbuilt with either metal or asphalt roofs. The top of the tower collapsed due to disrepair and a small gable roof was built in its place. New metalworking machinery was placed in the icehouse and several shed buildings adjacent to the original structure were built for additional workspace. The coal yard became a parking lot for the employees, and the city claimed some of the property for their right of way.

As time passed, RCA and similar companies were moving all production offshore to lower their costs. These days, I don't think prototypes are made anywhere, everything is checked on the computer screen. However, Custom Models stayed in business up until 2006 and probably could have gone on much longer had the family owners not lost their son (and manager of the business) to cancer some years ago.

The business owner's former partner still has a workshop in the neighborhood, though, so I get to hear plenty of fun stories about life in the shop. There are also quite a few ex-employees living in the neighborhood, and they all have fond memories of working for the family owned business.

Now that we own the property, we are trying to renovate it in a creative way that keeps as much of the historic fabric as possible, while still being a comfortable residence. We very much appreciate the history of the building, it's one of the reasons we live here and I desperately want to preserve the feel of the industrial setting. With any luck there'll be a lot more layers of history added in the future!