Centreville in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Walney Ice Pond
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park
On the side of the trail, do you see the hill that curves around the path?
By connecting the man made walls on the right side of the trail to the natural hillside on your left, the Machens created an ice pond in the winter of 1853. The ice pond was built to retain water so they could harvest their own ice for ice cream or chilled drinks throughout the year and keep food cold in the house in an icebox.
Two hundred years ago, you would be standing in water from Walney Creek that flowed into the ice pond and froze. For quality ice, the pond was filled from 6 to 30 inches deep—the height of the lines on the side for this marker. Once the pond froze, the Machens and their hired white workers and enslaved AFrican Americans harvested the ice and stored it in the ice house.
Imagine scraping and hauling ice from the ice pond, loading it onto wagons, and taking it to the icehouse located behind you on the trail towards the Walney house. How would you feel working outside in the middle of winter hauling ice? Why do you think the ice house was built so far away from the pond?
The Machens used the ice bond throughout the 1850s. In a letter from Emmeline Machen to her father, Lewis H. Machen, written on February, 18, 1858, she wrote:
…Since the snow storm ofSaturday, we have had sufficient cold weather to make very respectable ice, & James has been busily engaged yesterday and today in filling the ice house. It is more pleasant to see the carts go by laden with this acceptable and necessary commodity, as we were beginning to despair of having any this winter.
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Erected by Fairfax County Park Authority.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Natural Resources • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is February 18, 1858.
Location. 38° 51.444′ N, 77° 25.943′ W. Marker is in Centreville, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is on Creek Trail south of Ridge Trail, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5201 Creek Trail, Chantilly VA 20151, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Walney Outbuildings (approx. 0.2 miles away); Wipe Your Feet! (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cabell’s Mill and Middlegate House (approx. 0.2 miles away); a different marker also named Walney Outbuildings (approx. ¼ mile away); Walney House (approx. ¼ mile away); The Houses at Walney (approx. ¼ mile away); The Walney Dairy (approx. ¼ mile away); a different marker also named The Walney Dairy (approx. 0.3 miles away).
Credits. This page was last revised on May 22, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 22, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 276 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 22, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
