The Big Chill

Ice harvesting was the major winter activity in Hamburg Township for over thirty years. Until electrical refrigeration became common in the 1940s, food was best preserved during warmer months in iceboxes with ice blocks harvested from lakes during the winter. In 1890, a large commercial ice house was built on the north shore of Zukey Lake near the pair of railroad tracks that had just been built through Lakeland. Blocks of ice, cut from the frozen lake and stored in the building, were loaded on wagons or waiting trains. Zukey Lake ice kept rail shipments of food chilled and fresh as they were distributed throughout the region. The ice house occupied the lakeshore near the site of the present-day Zukey Lake Tavern.

Michigan · United States