EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published on Richland Source in 2014.
MANSFIELD — The ice on North Lake in Mansfield doesn’t do much today except keep ducks and geese out of the water, but there was a time when that ice served a broader purpose in the community, and lasted as long as two years after the spring thaws.
Before the site on Fourth Street was a city park the land was used as a horse paddock, and the healthy stream that flowed through the lowlands kept herds of horses well watered. Once a year, during the winter months, that stream was captured for use as an ice harvest.
The Ice Business
Every November a dam was built across the eastern end of the fields, where the valley narrows at the ravine behind Sixth Street. With the volume of water that flowed in Touby’s Run it didn’t take long for a sizable lake to pond up that was nearly three times longer than North Lake is today.
Sometime in January or February, a crew of men with ice saws cut up the surface of the ice lake into blocks, and then teams of horses pulling sledges hauled the blocks to an insulated barn where they were stacked in storage.
Throughout the hot months of the year the city had enough home-grown ice to keep the ice boxes of Mansfield cold so kids could have milk, cooks could have butter, and everybody else could have cold beer.
Picture the Past
The above photo essay is of pictures spanning 130 years and tells the story of Mansfield’s small ice industry, and helps you imagine the pre-history of North Lake Park.
Timothy Brian McKee is a featured columnist on our site every Sunday with a column titled Native Son. Every Tuesday, he taps into his knowledge and collection of historical photos and bring us Then & Now, a brief glance at the way things were.
Editor’s Note: This article was made in a previous version of our site; so the story layout has changed. To see the 9 photos this article holds, simply click the image above and click/swipe to explore more.
