Ice Harvesting in New Haven

Sheffield Farms was a New York based milk company back in the 30's and 40's until Boston companies took over. Sheffield had a plant at New Haven Junction and Vergennes where they took in can milk. Our milk went to the junction. In order for milk to be cooled they had to put up ice in the winter for summer cooling.

The New Haven Junction milk plant was the last building. The building also became the Kilbournes Gristmill then the Spriggs Barn and cattle corrals and lastly Route 7. A rail siding going in as far as the Spriggs barn on the west side of the main tracks. As of today the white pigment buildings cover the same land.

The ice house was probably 30 by 60 feet and had two docks with elevators or hoist to take the huge cakes up to the level where they were filling. Then the cakes were slid on shoots to where they wanted them. The outside walls were filled with sawdust to insulate. Then swail grass was cut along the marsh in the summer and stack was put in between each layer of ice to protect it from thawing. Swail was a real good insulator because of its wide leaves. They would pitch off what swail they could in the summer to be able to take out what ice they needed and then cover it back up.

When we went to the miiir plant every day with our milk, my mother would say to dad, "Take a burlap bag this Sunday and bring some ice back and I'll have the custard made." We kids would get on the back porch and make the ice cream. What a treat! It was cold in the ice house in July and August. Chunks of ice were put into the milk and in-between the cans to keep it cold until it got to New York City.

When refrigerated cars came, the Sheffields sold the ice house to the Kilbournes and they jacked it up and moved it up against the Gristmill for storing carloads of grain. This is when farms were getting bigger with more bought grain and less grist grain that they owned.

The cutting of the ice was done on the north side of Route 7. Also at the Lime Kiln bridge and on the creek below the Peter and Gade residence that now exist. The Gages lived there then. Sheffield built an ice house up at at Rivers or Legault Pond on the mountain here where the big pines are now on the North "West side of the pond. The ice house fell in in the 1940's.

Chet Briggs was the over seer of the icing. He had a circle saw on a sled with a ford motor to cut the ice and an elevator with paddle to load the ice. The ice was all caught and floated to the elevators in ice channels by fellows that had pike poles and picks.

Horses and sleds were hired for $1.50 a day to draw the ice from the elevators to the ice houses. On cold days you would see a sheep skin coat covering a gallon of cider for nourishment. Ever so often a fellow would fall into the water. That's when a pike pole with the hook came in handi

Earl Bessette
March 25, 2001