Kaatz Icehouse (1908-1978)

Kaatz Icebouse was a large commercial ice house built in 1908 on the shore of Kaatz Pond. This wooden structure housed Ernest Kaatz's ice harvesting business from 1908 to 1955. Demolished in 1978, it was the last remaining building of its kind in Connecticut (and possibly in all of New England).

New England had a thriving commercial ice industry long before the Kaatz Icehouse was built. Between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, New England companies shipped ice to plantations in the South and to the Caribbean. By the mid-20th century, refrigeration plants that created ice artificially became more common. Kaatz Icehouse, in contrast, simply harvested natural ice from its water source. It remained in business up until the 1950s because there was still a demand for natural ice from the more luxurious hotels in Bridgeport. 

Smith, Eileen Robinson. "I Remember...Kaatz's Icehouse and Iceboxes, Too." Bridgeport Sunday Post. August 13, 1978. Accessed October 04, 2017. http://www.trumbullhistory.org/i-remember--kaatzs-ice-house-and-iceboxes-too.html.

Trumbull Historical Society. Images of America: Trumbull. Charleston. Arcadia, 1997.