
When our team was researching our History of East Monkton, I became interested in the topic of ice harvesting as I began to really think about the days before electric refrigeration. It was not until the late 1930s that electricity came to Monkton. Before that, homes, farms and businesses were all dependent upon ice to keep things fresh and cold. Harvesting ice was an absolute necessity.
Although there were businesses in Monkton that harvested ice, much of the harvesting was done by farmers and householders themselves. They harvested ice from Monkton Pond, but also smaller bodies of water, including ponds left behind from the mining of iron and kaolin, mostly off Hardscrabble Road. The blocks of ice harvested were big, thick and heavy. The blocks were transported on horse-drawn sleds home and packed in sawdust so they would last through the summer months. Smaller pieces were chiseled off and placed in ice boxes in the home, to keep food safe to eat.
The lack of good refrigeration was tied to the existence of several small creameries in Monkton. Farmers had no way to keep milk from spoiling, so it had to be processed quickly into the more stable forms of milk and cheese. That is a topic for another day!
This photo was published in Monkton the Way It Was, published by Helen B. Layn, Patrick A. Polzella and Candace Layn Polzella in 2007 as a fundraiser for the East Monkton Church. Copies are available for $20.00 at the Russell Memorial Library, all proceeds going to the East Monkton Church Association.