Skip to main content

Ice Harvesting

We have no photos of ice harvesting on the Myers dock, but the photos taken from internet sources show us that harvesting went from a major industry during the winter months to a small project.

The photo above taken at Rockland Lake shows conveyers to a large ice house.  The photo below is of a modest enterprise.  Lakes were used for convenience.  The Hudson River was salty from New York City to above Newburgh, so harvesting along the Hudson was limited to the the Poughkeepsie to Albany area.  On the plus side, Hudson River harvesters had railroad and boat access to New York City.

Harvesting on an unknown location

The two upright pieces of this sculpture consist of saw blades used during ice harvesting.  Each of them are five feet in length.

In 1866, at the peak of the ice harvesting industry, there were over 25 million tons of ice harvested in the United States.  Henry D Myers' business was a part of the total. 

The sculpture stands outside a tattoo parlor next to Nekos Drug Store at the main intersection of the village of Red Hook, where route 199 crosses route 9.

Marist CollegeMarist Archives & Special Collections | Contact Us  | Acknowledgements