As each new year turned from January to February the thickness of the ice on local ponds was a topic of conversation. Should we cut now? Should we wait for it to get thicker? What if we have a warm spell? Filling the ice house was always a challenge.

One hundred years ago a common sight on the shores of large freshwater ponds around Falmouth was an ice house. These special buildings had but one purpose: to store ice cut from nearby ponds during the coldest part of winter so that it could be enjoyed during the summer and fall. Everything about the design of an ice house was focused on minimizing the amount of ice that melted during warm weather:

• There were no windows.
• There was a 12” space between the wooden outside wall and the wooden inside wall, that was filled with sawdust for insulation.
• There were drain holes at ground level for water from melting ice to leave the building.
• The ice blocks (also called cakes) were packed tightly together. On top of each layer of ice blocks there was a thin layer straw or sawdust to keep the layers of ice from freezing together.

The most distinctive feature of an icehouse was its tall loading door that started at ground level and extended almost to the peak of the roof. Below are photos of some of the ice houses that were in Falmouth or Woods Hole.