In the December 2018 issue of the newsletter, Bob Craig wrote about the Frank C. Underhill Ice Plant, which was off of the north side of Stockton Street, roughly in the rear of where CCL is now located. During Labor Day 2019, my wife and I were at our vacation “camp” in the Adirondacks. One of our neighbors there, Lee Merrill who lives in Florida, brought me a picture of an ice pick he has in his “camp.” He and his parents have used it for years. He noticed “Hightstown” printed on it and finally made the connection with us. I explained to him that this ice pick likely made its way from Hightstown to Mount Arab/Eagle Crag, NY, in the 1930s, some 350 miles away. But how?
Back in the early 1900s, a number of Peddie teachers owned “camps” in the Adirondacks. Besides vacationing, they would get paid to take some of their students there for vacation and tutoring in the summer. In fact, there were so many boys up there they played baseball against other Peddie boys staying on other lakes in the Adirondacks.
One such teacher was named R. Judson Waite, French teacher. His wife, Hazel Roszel Waite, had a relative who is my wife’s father, George Conley, III. Aunt Hazel gave or sold the “camp” to George in the early 1950s (they had no children to pass it along to). Back then it took 11-12 hours to drive there. Many did it in two days. Due to the distance, George Conley soon sold the camp to the Merrill family. Fast forward to Labor Day 2019. My “camp” neighbor Lee Merrill, son of the buyers, has been using this ice pick from F.C. Underhill Ice Plant for years.
A little more about ice works. For years ice was harvested off of the lake and stored packed in straw and usually in pits. The ice would keep for many months if done correctly. When it was harvested in Hightstown, one of the ice works was about where the library is now. Before our modern refrigerators, the iceman delivered the ice to businesses and homeowners with an ice box throughout the year. My house at 408 South Main Street was built in 1915. On the back porch was a wood door approximately 2 feet by 2 feet, that was 3 feet off of the floor. The ice man would bring his blocks of ice to this small door, open it and slide the blocks of ice inside the ice box. This ice box was usually in a pantry or kitchen.
The ice boxes were zinc or lead lined and quite attractive pieces of furniture, often oak. Homeowners would put a sign in their window if they needed ice. This method allowed for the delivery of ice without ever having to enter the home. This business all but died out in the 1930s and 1940s when Frigidaire and others began manufacturing affordable home refrigerators and freezers.
Can you break into my house through that old 2×2 ice door? Nope, but I used to crawl through it as a kid. We removed it during some renovations in the 1990s. I should have saved the door! Maybe you know of some house that still has one or have seen one of these handsome pieces of furniture converted to a bar or stereo cabinet.