Historic Icehouses of America

ice storage structure - before refrigeration

These days we take fresh food for granted, but keeping food refrigerated was a difficult prospect until the middle of the 20th century. Harvesting ice was an important industry everywhere in the world. Ice was saved for the summertime in icehouses. To make use of the ice to cool food, an icebox was employed. This pre-cursor to the modern refrigerator had several drawbacks, but mainly a melting block of ice that had to replaced constantly and usually left a large mess.

When clean surface water sources began to get scarce, technology came to the rescue. Industrial refrigeration technology allowed for artificial freezing of water. This meant ice could be produced in a factory setting right in the communities where it was needed. People quickly realized the benefits of this and thousands of ice factories all across the U.S. were in operation near the turn of the 20th century. Home ice production was not feasible until a safe and reliable process was developed (starting circa 1916), but eventually home production spelled the end of the ice factories.

Ice factories played a vital role in American city development, helping cities to sever the link between food production and food consumption (for better or worse). As these important structures were fading into obscurity around mid-century, the Historic American Building Survey program was able to catch some of them in action. The best example is the Milford Ice and Coal Company in Delaware (built 1893).

Milford Ice & Coal Company - a modern ice factory

Our own icehouse had a very similar process to the original system used here. Fresh water was fed from a water tank up high (the tower) into steel tanks surrounded by chilled refrigerant.

The water freezes in galvanized containers and is retrieved by a hoist crane

The block of ice is stored in a room below

The block of ice is sliced into smaller sizes and ready for delivery

I suppose this is a chipper machine, don't put your arm in

A finely detailed plan

There are modern HABS floor plans and elevations on the website. It's not the most user friendly website, but HABS is a great resource. They have historic photos of just about every kind of structure you can imagine. Just like any academic/library search, you should expect to come up with a lot of synonyms in order to find what you are really looking for.

Here are HABS records of two other ice factories:

Champion Ice & Fuel Company

(1884)

Atlantic Ice & Coal Company

(1923)

Castles in the sky

My friend and I collaborated on conceptual design last year for a critiqued design project. It was a lot of fun, I ended up contributing very little to the finished product but it was fun to be involved.

The basic concept was simple, design a skyscraper. Here was our response:



Architectural contests are great because they really push your thinking to new areas. You know from the beginning that many entries will be received so you have to go big or go home. Some of the best modern buildings had their start as inspirations during a design contest. For those willing to have a go at it, there are always plenty of competitions published on Bustler.net

We didn't win, but honestly I don't think that was the important part. I learned a lot more about what architects go through, and it reinforced the fact that what architects and engineers do are entirely different things. And in the end, I preferred my job.

Pre-Thanksgiving Update

Okay, good news... Things are settling back to normal. Or as normal as they can be considering the fact I live in a 8000 sq. ft., 1 Bedroom apartment, and it's not the kind of space that would put Martha Stewart at ease, if you know what I mean (at least not yet... maybe it won't ever be?).

In related news, I have put further commitments on my time, including:

1. Volunteering for the Irvington neighborhood Washington Corridor Streetscape Committee. This is great fun for me because it's another chance to help out my neighborhood and meet people interested in community development. The best part is that it is not full of the NIMBY crowd, but instead consists of people willing to challenge the status quo. I'll have to get the committee to put up better pictures and drawings soon, but this will be similar to the nearby Emerson Gateway (good pics on that one) project which started up last year.

2. I have decided to find (or develop) a flag for the neighborhood of Irvington. So far my research has led to nothing, but I'm going to try a little bit longer. In the absence of finding an authentic flag, I think I'm going to propose this one:


I've written up my justifications for it here, let me know what you think. More importantly, let me know if you have any information on an historically authentic Irvington flag because I can't find anything.

3. I am moving forward on my LEED studying. I don't think I can manage to get it in by the end of the year, so I am preparing to learn the LEED 2009 version. Drop me a line if anyone knows any information about this, because other than what's on the site above I can't find too much.

I hope everyone has a good fall season. I will be running around like a decapitated chicken, just like everyone else, but I shall update any information on the icehouse as it comes in.

Back in the Blog Saddle

I apologize to all for not posting more often. I'll summarize what's been going on the past few months:

1. Major elections - I wasn't involved in any campaigning, but I was addicted to CNN. At one point I was even watching Larry King Live reruns at 2 in the morning. I'm in treatment now, I probably will even be able to skip a few episodes of The Colbert Report this month...
   
2. Financial Crisis - our renovation funding was in an account that was frozen due to a run on the bank, it was a scary situation and shifted the focus of our efforts for a few weeks
   
3. Structural PE II Exam - this 4 question, 8 hour exam required a lot of studying
   
4. Depression - life has its ups and downs, just like any good thrill ride
   
5. My Job - I was able to convince my office that green design and engineering is important; then I had to back it up with actions (currently studying for my LEED AP exam, blech)
6. Drawing Board - Back to it... The design committee (me and wife) decided that we should re-prioritize our design for the icehouse; now it's much better
   

Basically, I had a few internal struggles and then the largest sea change in financial markets this century decided to upend my little renovation project. Then the out-of-left-field mind-fuck that was the Republican VP candidate arrived. I'm sorry (I promised myself I would never discuss politics on this blog) but as an engineer who believes strongly in human intellectual capacity (i.e. logic) and the scientific method (i.e. logic and experience) it was much more scary to hear her speak than to watch the stock market falling. Okay, I'm done with politics now. Back to structural engineering.

I'm an optimistic person, for sure. Thankfully, I live in a country where I have the ability to control my own life. This gives me hope that we can solve all our problems, engineering and otherwise. The uncertainty we currently face is actually an opportunity. It is an opportunity to remember what faith is, to trust each other, and to follow through on the promises that bind us together as families, communities, and amorphous political constructs.

Our best course of action is now to reverse the course that the construction industry has been tracking for almost 100 years. We must remember that our structures are a part of this world - but only for a limited time, even the pyramids must fall. We must remove our ego from the design process and commit ourselves to building a sustainable built environment that will serve the needs of our clients and the public. We're the ones who create the urban landscape, let's make sure it's one we'll enjoy.