Before refrigerators, people used ice-boxes and ice was a valuable commodity. Every winter from 1890 thru 1920, the Kalamazoo Ice and Fuel Company operated an ice plant on the shores of Fife Lake. The ice was cut from the lake and hoisted by way of an elaborate wooden structure to a massive warehouse. During the summer months, the ice, packed in sawdust to keep it cold, was loaded into railway cars and shipped to the Grand Rapids area.