#2241 "Port Coldwell Hauling Ice"

This painting is based on an old photo of the ice harvesting operations at Port Coldwell. The photo I consulted was from Kathleen Allen of Allen's Store in Port Caldwell. Those and other pictures of Port Coldwell are now in the collection of her daughter Ann Barker. I have been unsuccessful so far at making contact with Ann. Thank you to Stan Johnson the President of the Marathon and District Historical Society for this information.

The home on the right in this painting was that of the Blanchard family when they moved to Port Coldwell 1954. Mr Blanchard (the father of Nancy) later bought the home outright. In later in the years it was sold to Charles Lemkcke which they used as their cottage. The Blanchard family had Mary Lees do a painting of it for their Dad when he retired from C.P.R. This information was courtesy of Nancy Dick Blanchard. Thank you.

Ice harvesting would have arrived with the first settlers. The fishermen needed to keep their catch fresh. There was no other way to keep things cool during the summer months. Lake Superior might be cold but the summer temperatures could still get high. The ice house stored the blocks of ice taken from the lake during the winter. Apparently the fish was kept on ice in another building. The Nicolls set up a market for fresh fish using the railroad as their distribution network. Lake trout and whitefish were served aboard CPR dining cars on the transcontinental route and in many of the finest restaurants in Canada and the US.

Ice blocks typically measured 22 by 32 inches and weighed anywhere between 50 and 300 pounds. Ice harvesting generally involved waiting until approximately a foot of ice had built up on the water surface in the winter. The ice would then be cut with either a handsaw or a powered blade into long continuous strips and then cut into individual blocks for transport to the ice house. They were brought to shore via channels cut in the ice. At Port Coldwell it appeared that the ice blocks were moved up a wooden sluice by hand into the ice house.

The ice could also be placed in waiting railcars by way of a conveyor belt. Sawdust, up to a foot thick, insulated the ice blocks. Up to 40 per cent of the ice could melt would before reaching its destination in spite of the insulation. Rapid shipment to distant markets was vital, so harvesting was limited to locations where railways came alongside the shoreline and afforded easy loading.

This is intended as a partner to #2242 "Port Coldwell Steamer". It is the same size and from the same era of Port Coldwell.

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