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Framed: Anderson Ice House

After reading an article in the Door County Living archives about local ice harvesting, Tad Dukehart sent us this photo of one of the county’s original icehouses. It still stands near Anderson Dock in Ephraim. The building stored ice for the Anderson Store, which provided ice to Ephraim villagers for many years. Judy Cloninger, the great-granddaughter of Aslag Anderson, believes it was built in the 1800s. 

“In winter, Grandpa Adolph would go out to the lake and cut chunks of ice with a saw, bring them back to the icehouse and cover them with sawdust,” Cloninger recalled. “I remember vividly playing around in the yard, and people would come by and buy ice. He would go in and cut pieces of ice and brush sawdust off the ice. He would give them a pretty good chunk, and they’d put it in their ice boxes.”

The structure stored ice into the 1950s, and the Anderson Store closed in 1958. Artist Chick Peterson captured ice harvesting in a painting, provided by the Ephraim Historical Foundation.