June 26, 1909 - Demise of Hudson Ice Harvesting

100 Years Ago: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

Beaverwyck House Razed

The monster house of the American Ice Co., located on Beaverwyck Island, opposite Upper Rensselaer, has been razed. The company has no further use for the house, which has not been filled in two years. Successful ice cutting on the Upper Hudson will be ancient history in the next ten years.

Backstory: This Day in 1908 in The Record: Feb. 8

The American Ice Company has abruptly halted ice harvesting activity in the vicinity of Albany, putting at least 70 men out of work... American Ice was in the middle of a busy ice harvesting season, having just finished filling their Beverwyck Island ice house with 10,000 tons of excellent ice, averaging between ten and twelve inches in thickness. The stop order comes as American Ice was about to begin work filling an even larger facility, the Mould House in Rensselaer, with 40,000 tons of ice.
...
Agitation in favor of legislation averse to the cutting of ice from the Hudson river in this vicinity may have had something to do with bringing about the suspension of operations... Downstate consumers have criticized Albany-area ice in recent years, accusing American Ice of harvesting ice from areas tainted by sewage and industrial waste.

(Click Image to Enlarge)
H. D. Mould's House in Rensselaer, N.Y. from Refrigerating World, Cold Storage and Ice Trade Journal


Refrigerating World - April 1908, Minutes of an Empire State Ice Association meeting

Last year there started in Albany a manufacturing concern to manufacture ice for use in the city. ... They have a half page advertisement in the local daily papers which begins in the largest most bold faced type which the printer can furnish with these words "Hudson River Ice Condemned by the State Commissioner of Health". ... Well it is pretty tough business when a man or a company has to build up its business by tearing down others or by throwing mud or insinuation against another.

Refrigerating World, May 1908

None of the Albany ice dealers will probably be pleased over the recent report of the Sanitary Engineering division of the State Department of Health ... where it is alleged that the waters of the Hudson are badly polluted in the vicinity of Albany, Troy, Rensselaer, Schenectady, etc. ... There are forty one ice houses in this territory which were "condemned".

Report: Commissioner Porter on Hudson Ice Again

February 6, 1909 - Ice Harvest

100 Years Ago Today: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

ICEMEN ARE BUSY
Berry & Waugh Are Harvesting a Third Crop

Icemen are taking advantage of the opportunity to harvest ice now. About 50 ice handlers from Upper Rensselaer are employed at the Montgomery houses, just below this city. The ice is of good quality and between 10 and 14 inches in thickness.

The men expect to remain at these houses for about another week if the weather is favorable. Waugh and Berry have marked their ice in the lake for the third cutting of the year and their houses on North Forbes avenue are expected to be filled with this harvest.

As yet Benacker Bros. have not started on their field in the river which has been staked out. They are harvesting 14 inch ice from an artificial pond near old Riverside Park.

You can read a great description of ice harvesting on the Hudson by John Burroughs.

One of the prettiest sights about the ice-harvesting is the elevator in operation. When all works well, there is an unbroken procession of the great crystal blocks slowly ascending this incline. They go up in couples, arm in arm, as it were, like friends up a stairway, glowing and changing in the sun, and recalling the precious stones that adorned the walls of the celestial city.

Just for fun, here's a Wikipedia article about the icebox.
If you want one in your kitchen, Roseland Icebox Company specializes in reproduction quality 1900's iceboxes with completely modern refrigeration components built in (these are gorgeous - check it out here).