Ice Houses in
Metamora
In the 1930s ice houses began to disappear from the landscape
in the village area . In its time ice houses were as obsolete as
livery stables and private barns. In the coldest winter months
shipments of ice were brought from Lacon cut from the Illinois
River. Ice blocks were about ten inches in thickness and were
placed in layers of sawdust. Other ice houses in the village were
operated by C. H. Hindson and the Metamora Ice Company run by
Edward Theena. The Theena Family cut their ice from a pond on
their property north of the Village. One of the ice houses was
located on the J. B. Knoblauch property corner at the alley of Mason
Funeral Home today. In its later years the surface of this old
building was used to display circus advertising as shown in the
above photo.
The second photo shows the ice house built in the late 1800s
for Theena’s Meat Market located behind the Colors 4Hair building
today. It was torn down in 1943 by Otto F. Giehl, grocer.
Ponds on the farms of Jack Schierer on Washington black top
road and on Route 116 at the farm of Robert Kinhofer also supplied
ice to these ice houses. In later years another source of ice
could be purchased from the “Dude” Theobald Tavern located in the
200 block of East Mt. Vernon Street Route 116.
History and
photo submitted by Shirley A. Adams.
|