Riverdale Park in Prince George's County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

MacAlpine Icehouse

Town of Riverdale Park

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

1. MacAlpine Icehouse Marker

Inscription. You are standing near the remains of a 19th century icehouse. What is an icehouse? An icehouse is an underground facility designed to store ice during times of year when it is not easily available. Icehouses use the natural insulating qualities of the earth to store ice harvested from freshwater rivers and lakes, or ice manufactured by electrically powered factories. The MacAlpine Icehouse consists of a brick-lined pit approximately 25 feet deep and 20 feet in diameter; its above-ground wooden cover is now gone. The icehouse preserved within this modern masonry structure was built by the Calvert family in the late 1860s to store ice for their farm, MacAlpine. This ice house is one of only three surviving examples in Prince George's County.

Specialist firms in northern climates harvested and shipped ice by railroad and steamship to southern states like Maryland. Manufacturers patented, built, and sold ice boxes to city dwellers while farmers and rural households purchased large quantities of ice for long-term storage in icehouses. Government-supported rural electrification programs begun in the 1930s rendered the need

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

for traditional icehouses, like this one, obsolete.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings.

Location. 38° 58.176′ N, 76° 56.252′ W. Marker is in Riverdale Park, Maryland, in Prince George's County. It is at the intersection of Van Buren Street and Baltimore Avenue (U.S. 1), on the right when traveling east on Van Buren Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4439 Van Buren Street, Hyattsville MD 20782, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Mid-Atlantic,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: ERCO and Calvert Homes (here, next to this marker);

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

2. MacAlpine Icehouse Marker

Riversdale Plantation (here, next to this marker); MacAlpine Farm (a few steps from this marker); Trolley (approx. 0.2 miles away); Native American History (approx. ¼ mile away); Calvert Hills: A National Register Historic District (approx. ¼ mile away); ERCO (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Town of Riverdale Park (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Riverdale Park.

Sketch of MacAlpine Plantation by Jack W. Phillips, 1934<br>Objects in Red No Longer Exist image. Click for full size.

Internet Archive

3. Sketch of MacAlpine Plantation by Jack W. Phillips, 1934
Objects in Red No Longer Exist

From The History and Construction Of Mac Alpine At College Park, Maryland, Tau Beta Pi thesis by Jack W. Phillips December 13, 1934.

Ice house, Harford County, Maryland by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1930s image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress

4. Ice house, Harford County, Maryland by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1930s

Cross Section of Typical Icehouse image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

5. Cross Section of Typical Icehouse

Close-up of image on marker

MacAlpine Icehouse Marker<br>& the Ercoupe image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

6. MacAlpine Icehouse Marker
& the Ercoupe

Credits. This page was last revised on August 3, 2018. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 604 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 29, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.