In those days, there was a great demand for ice in warm weather to preserve meat and dairy products, cool drinks and, of course, to have ice cream.

Collecting ice in winter and keep it year round, businesses and homeowners developed ingenious methods for collecting and storing the ice.

The storage buildings, Icehouses, could be rickety private shacks or elaborately commercial.

The main idea was a hay pack and a tight seal to keep the summer heat out.