History of the Ice Houses and Harvest 1882-1889

The ice business of Lake Maxinkuckee started probably much earlier than 1882 but thus far this is the earliest mention of the ice harvesting or ice house of Lake Maxinkuckee -

It is found that as early as 1882 by a Mr. Holt who built an Ice House on West Shore Drive just north of the outlet. Another says it that was Medbourn.

1883 - Apr 7 - A Logansport man has purchased 1,000 feet front on Lake Maxinkuckee and will gooextensively into the ice business- Seymour Daily Democrat (Indiana)

1883 - August 2 - A communication from Lake Maxinkuckee to an Indianapolis paper says ... Mr. McKeen's large ice houses loom up in another direction,... reminds us that our beloved once isloated Maxinkuckee,has been invaded by the outside world... - Logansport Journal Logansport Journal July 6, 1883 - St. Louis Globe-Democrat:.. Lake Maxinkuckee is three miles wide by five miles long, so clear that one can see pebbles at a depth of fifty feet.Last winter the Vandalia people put up 10,000 tons of ice from it, and one of the chunks of twenty-four inch now contains an eighteen inch black bass, for whose thawing, out Col. J Hill is impatiently waiting. Logansport Chronicle December 22, 1883 - Two large ice houses of the Vandalia, at Maxinkuckee, have been sold to a St. Louis firm. They contained about 13,000 tons of ice. The consideration was in the neighborhood of $15,000.

1884 - Jan 3 - The cold weather has been sufficient to freeze Lake Maxinkuckee to an extent wich maketh the ice dealer smile. A great ics harvert is expected, but it will require another ogg sharp visit from Jack Frost before the reaping can begin - - Daily Journal, Evansville, Indiana

1884 Jan 9 - The Ice Harvest... The Ice harvest in the city (Indianapolis)... The Indianapolis Ice Company are not cutting ice here this winter. Sometime ago there erected ice houses on Lake Maxinkuckee, and their present and future suppplies will be obtaine from that point, a switch having bee put in at the lake to connect with the railroad, which is about three miles distant. They cut their first ice at Maxinkuckee day before yesterday. The Ice is twelve inches thick, free from snow, and clear as crystal. In answer to the question wheter there would be a greater supply than last year, and at as lor or lower prices, the answer was that is too early to tell, and that it will take fully two weeks to determine whethera full crop will be gathered this winter. It may be that the weather will turn warm as suddenly as it got cold, and, if that should happen, it would be extremely inlikely that a second harvest would present itself... Indianapolis Journal

1884 - Jan 18 - The ice on Lake Maxinkuckee, which is frozen from one end to the other, is as clear as glass and from fourteen to seventee inches thick. Temas cross th lake in every direction, just as if it were dry land. The snow is takn off with a road scraper, Indianapolis parties are cutting the ice at a great rate. - Indianapolis News

1884 - Feb. - The ice on Lake Maxinkuckee, which is frozen from one end to the other. os as clear as glass and from fourteen to seventeem inches thick. Teasm cross the lake in every direction, just as if it were dry land. The snow is taken off with a road scraper. Indianapolis parties are cutting the ice at a great rate. - Indianapolis News

1885 - January 28 - The Vandalia people are cutting ice on Lake Maxenkuckee. Thousands of tons have been put up - Logansport Journal

1885 - Jan 28 - Indianapolis Sentinel: "The company that is cutting lce on Lake Maxinkuckee has orders for 400 car loads, which will be delivered at once over the Logansport division of the Vandalia. This is quite an item in the business of the Logan. - Logansport Weekly Pharos

' 1885 - February 18 - Logansport Weekly Pharos - The recent cold weather froze Lake Maxinkuckee to a depth of eighteen or twenty inches. This thickness to the greatest that has been atained during the winter. The moderating of the weather has allowed a large force of men to resume cutting ice. The high wind blew the snow off the ice, but in some places it is neces sary to clear It away. The T. H. A L. will continue to do a good business in its shipment. Twenty cars were loaded Friday and sent out the same night.

1886 - Feb 3 - At Lake Maxinkuckee, the ice uniform thickness, in excess of thirteen inches, and as clear as crystal. A storm visited this section a short tine ago, but fortunately a severe wind blew the snow shorewards, so that that there are thousand of across bare as a floor and clear as crystal. - Fort Wayne Sentinel

1887 Jan 10 - The Vandalia is shipping daily from Lake Maxinkuckee southward, forty car-loads of ice - Indianapolis Journal

1887 - Aug 12 - Fifteen or twenty car loads of ice are being shipped from the lake, every day, to Indianapolis and the south. The proprietors say that Maxinkuckee ice is the best in the market - Logansport Pharos Tribune

1887 Dec 17 - Lake Maxinkuckee is not yet frozen over. The weather there has been quit cold for some time past but the wind have been so high that the lake has been unusually rough... - Logansport Pharos Tribune

Ices houses owned by Holt & Armstrong per a comment made by Peter Spangler in and interview in May 1930

It has been found that ice was shipped from Lake Maxinkuckee as early as 1888 and selling it in Evansville:

1888 Jan 17 - The Vandalia company got about ten car loads of ice at Lake Maxinkuckee Sunday, and the various ice houses along the line are being rapidly filled. The cutting was commenced Saturday morning, and is in charge of C. E. Fuller, master bridge builder. The company has ice houses in East St. Louis, Veva Park, Terre Haute and Indianapolis, those at Veva Park being the largest. The immense ice houses at Lake Maxiikuckee, now owned by the Maxinkuckee Ice company, were built by the Vandalia company, but were sold. They are huge structures, and hold enough ice to supply the company's trade at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Lafayette and several other places. -- Logansport Pharos Tribune

1888 - Jan 20 = The Vandalia is hauling ten car-loads of ice per day southward from Lake Maxinkuckee arrangement are making for large shipments southward from this lake should the present cold weather long continue - Indianapolis Journal

1888 - Jan 23 - Ice men at Maxinkuckee report that the crop of ice this season is of unusually fine quality, and that a bounteous supply is being harvested; in fact, the harvest is nearly over. If it should prove so plentiful as to weaken the ice pool next summer, there will be cause for Giving thanks Logansport Pharos Tribune

1888 Jan 27 Twenty-five car loads of ice were shipped from Maxinkuckee to Indianapolis over the Vandalia road to-day - Logansport Pharos Tribune

1888 - Jan 30 - A large part of the ice harvested at Lake Maxinkuckee is shipped to southern cities. - Logansport Pharos Tribune

1888 - Feb 3 - The Ice Harvest - Mr. Armstrong of the Indianapolis Ice Company,... North od Indianapolis the harvest has simply been magnificant. At Maxinkuckee, for instance where the Indianapolis company has large investments, the ice ranged from one feet to twenty-two inches in thickness, and is clar as plate glass. "And there are still acres of ice unharvested at that point,; said Armstrong, "twenty-two inches thick, and while a a little fall of snow, it is as clear as ice can be - clear as glass," he added, with his customary emphatic explative. - Indianapolis News.

1889 Jan 24 - Ice several inches in thickness is being cut at Lake Maxinkuckee, as a result of Saturday and Maonday;s freeze. The Terr Haute Gazzette says that the Vandalia had an order to furnish 2m700 cars to transport the ice to Nashville and other southern cities - Indianapolis Journal

1889 - Feb 16 The Vandalia is hauling south from Lake Maxinkuckee an average of sixty car-loads of ice a day. The ice is shipped to Evansville, Nashville, Memphis and St. Louis and it said to be ten inches thick and of superior quality. - Indianapolis Journal

1889 - Feb 25 - A Boom for the Vanilalia Road - The freezing over of Lake Maxinkuckee has proven of great value to the Vandalia. The ice is now nearly a foot thick and the Maxinkuckee ice company is cutting and shipping about fifty car loads per day. Besides this the houses are now filled and the daily shipments will be increased. The company's immense houses at the lake have a, capacity of about 1,500 cars which will be shipped from time to time during the coming summer. This means sixty trains of ice at the rale of twenty-lfve cars to the train, or if it was all put into one train, would be ten miles long. By these figures it will bo easier 19 conceive how much this business amounts to. -- Logansport Pharos Tribune

1889 - Feb 28 - Ice packing and shippin is still going on at Lake Maxinkuckee. A large force of men are engaged and hundreds of car loads are going southward. - Argos Recflector.

1889 Mar 2 - The Maxinkuckee Ice Company stopped cutting ice at Lake Maxinkuckee last night and laid off its force of men, as they have filled all of their orders for ice. Up to date they have shipped from the lake 632 cal loads of ice, or thrity train loads, besides filling their immense ice houses, which have a copacity of 5,000 cars. If more orders for ice are received a force of men will be put to work cutting as soon as possible, as the company does not wish to take ice from their houses as long as they can cur from the lake - (Terr Hayte Gazette) - Evansville Courier & Press

1889 Mar 2 - Since the last freeze 632 car loads of ice have been cut from Lake Maxinkuckee and shipped southward over the Vandalia Shipmens have now stopped, awaiting another frees. Should there not be one in a few days shipments of ice from the storage houses will commence, which now contain some 5,000 car-loads. - Indianapolis Journal

1889 - Mar 7 - Ices houses at Lake Maxinkuckee contain about five thousand car loads of ice. Over six hundred cars have been shipped since the last hard freeze

The Ice house at Lake Maxinkuckee contain about five thousand car loads of ice. Over 600 cars have been shipped since the last hard freeze.

- Argos Reflector

1889 - Mar 9 - The Maxinkuckee ice company stopped cutting ice at the lake last Wednesday evening. Up to date they have shipped 832 car-loads of ice, or thirty train loads, besides filling their immense ice houses, which have a capacity of 5,000 cars -- Logansport Pharos Tribune



1889 - Sep 5 - H. G. Thayer & Son are erecting ice houses on their business lot near Marmont and adjacent to the lake and the Vandalia railroad, and will engage in that business there next winter. - Argos Reflector

1882-1889 ~ ~ 1890-1899 ~ ~ 1900-1909 ~ ~ 1910-1919 ~ ~

1920-1929 ~ ~ 1930-1939 ~ ~ 1940-1950s ~ ~