Visiting the Ice House Museum, Cedar Falls IA

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Before there was refrigeration to store foods, people kept perishables and things cool with ice boxes which required continual purchase and supply of ice blocks. For a time harvesting ice was big business. Cedar Falls was home to countless ice companies at one time. The town is situated on the Cedar River and when the water froze during winter, it was harvest time. Men went out onto the ice and hand cut out blocks from the frozen waters. How to keep the blocks from quickly melting and holding to be sold later? An insulated ice house. Close to the river’s edge stands an unusual huge round structure. Cedar Falls boasts the only ice house museum in the country. Constructed in 1921, the ice house once stored six to eight thousand tons of ice yearly from 1922 to 1934 for the Cedar Falls Ice and Fuel Company. The introduction of refrigerators killed most of the ice business. The ice house spent the next 40 years as boat storage and ice skating rink. The structure was saved from ruin, given a renovation and became a museum in 1979. The building is constructed of thick blocks and wooden timber dome and is round because the design maintains better cool temperature. Entering the ice house is like stepping into an amphitheater with a very high ceiling. There is an introductory video explaining its history. The museum is in two sections. The ground floor deals with the ice harvesting process. Tools of the trade are displayed like saws and picks to retrieve ice blocks and countless tongs and ice boxes. Front and center is a vintage wooden delivery ice wagon as well as other vintage vehicles. A second floor was constructed and devoted to displaying long ago objects depicting daily life such as sewing machines and early refrigerators. The ice house reminds how people existed and survived without modern technology.