Ice house

An ice house, or icehouse, is a building used to store ice throughout the year before the invention of refrigerators.

During the winter, ice and snow would be cut from lakes or rivers, taken into the ice house, and packed with insulation (often straw or sawdust). It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during the summer months. The main application of the ice was the storage of foods, but it could also be used simply to cool drinks, or in the preparation of ice-cream and sorbet desserts.

In the 19th-century and early-20th-century there was a commercial trade in ice on the east coast of the United States and Norway. Large amounts of natural ice were collected, stored and sold. Later artificial ice was made and sold for domestic consumption and commercial purposes. Ice was cut from the surface of ponds and streams, then stored in ice houses, before being sent on by ship, barge or railroad to its final destination around the world.