Ice Harvesting

Ice Harvesting. Mackinaw City Historical Pathway. , Harvested in Mackinaw, shipped around the Great Lakes, the ice was used to cool food and people. , , Selling ice for refrigeration to the fish houses, railroads, and homes was big business from the late 1800s to World War II, and Mackinaw City was one of the largest supplieers. , , The Z and Z Ice Co. covered the area between the present railroad dock (where the Icebreaker Mackinaw is moored) and the State Dock (the big wide dock to the south). It was established in 1889 by Jack Ziggler and Paul Zaggmire. Z and Z purchased one million feeet of lumber to construct their two large ice houses that held 1,000 tons of ice. They employed 500 men during the ice cutting season. Ice also was cut to fill the ice houses of the three railroad companies and several local fish houses. Ice was shipped by boat or rail as far as Clevelend, Ohio. Ice harvesting continued until the 1960s when refrigerators made their way into most homes and businesses. , , The ice was used to preserve food, to chill drinks, as ice cubes, and as a refrigerant to make air conditioned railroad cars. , , How do you harvest ice? , Men began cutting ice when the bay ice was a foot thick, often in February. They swept the ice clear of snow, then marked off 2-foot square blocks and scored them halfway through with an ice cutter. Using a spud, the men broke a ribbon of ice free and floated it to a conveyer belt. A man at the base of the belt separated the ribbon into square pieces and pushed them onto the conveyor. A man at the top would position the blocks, some weighing as much as 250 pounds, in the ice house for later use. Sawdust and snow were packed between the blocks as insulation.