Island Barn Mystery: Part 2

by Everyday Lillie

Continued from Part 1: “…. why would an island need a barn?”

One day a neighbour stopped in and let us know that horses had been kept on our little island many years ago in support of the local Ice Trade. Ice was harvested in the winter from our lake.

Ontario’s Ice Trade

Ontario, with its cold and snowy winters, has a rich history of ice harvesting. In the days before refrigeration, ice was a vital commodity for keeping food fresh and preserving it during transport. The ice industry in Ontario was booming in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the frozen lakes and rivers of the province were a valuable resource for many entrepreneurs.

Ice harvesting in Ontario began in the early 1800s. The first icehouses were built along the shores of Lake Ontario, and they were used to store ice cut from the lake during the winter. In the early years, ice was cut by hand using saws and axes, and then transported to the icehouses using horse-drawn sleds.

The ice trade really took off in the mid-1800s, thanks to the development of new technology that made the process more efficient. In 1845, an American inventor named John Gorrie patented a machine that produced ice, and soon after, the icebox was invented. These new inventions created a huge demand for ice, and entrepreneurs in Ontario were quick to capitalize on this new market.

The ice industry in Ontario grew rapidly, and by the late 1800s, there were hundreds of icehouses scattered throughout the province. Some of the most successful ice merchants were based in Kingston, where they had access to the frozen waters of Lake Ontario. These merchants would ship their ice to other cities in Ontario and beyond, and by the early 1900s, Ontario ice was being shipped as far away as England.

Ice businesses grew in Hamilton, Toronto, Lake Simcoe and Lake Nipissing Ontario. The ice in the Toronto area later became less marketable because of the quality of the water and so the Simcoe and Nipissing ice grew in popularity.

To be continued: Ice Harvest Method

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