The ice trade, also known as the frozen water trade, was a 19th-century and early 20th-century industry, centering on the east coast of the United States and Norway, involving the large-scale harvesting, transport and sale of natural ice, and later the making and sale of artificial ice, for domestic consumption and commercial purposes. Ice was cut from the surface of ponds and streams, then stored in ice houses, before being sent on by ship, barge or railroad to its final destination around the world.
The ice trade around New York City; from top: ice houses on the Hudson River; ice barges being towed to New York; barges being unloaded; ocean steamship being supplied; ice being weighed; small customers being sold ice; the "uptown trade" to wealthier customers; an ice cellar being filled; by F. Ray, Harper's Weekly, 30 August 1884
Ice manufacture near Allahabad in 1828, by skimming ice from water-filled pots
Spanish slaves in Cuba unloading ice from Maine
Ice harvesting at Spy Pond, Arlington, Massachusetts, 1852, showing the railroad line in the background, used to transport the ice
An ice house, or icehouse, is a building used to store ice throughout the year, commonly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator. Some were underground chambers, usually man-made, close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes, but many were buildings with various types of insulation.
Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy: domed icehouse (ghiacciaia) half-sunk into a shaded slope
Ice house near Beneixama (Valencian Community)
Ice house near Arcen Castle in Arcen, Netherlands
Yakhchāl of Kheshti, Iran