What is it that was harvested from fields, but never planted? Was found only in winter, but used mostly in summer? Was stored at Culver, but used across the country?
Well, I'm not very good at asking riddles, because I always tell the answer right away. In this case, it's "ice."Last September, before I left for school, I talked to Bill Easterday, Bess Easterday and Sam Medbourn about the ice business in Culver. This article is a summary of what they told me.
The ice trade had its modest beginning when a man named Holt built an ice house (that is, a place to store ice after it had been harvested) on the west shore of the lake, north of the outlet. The Easterdays' father helped in this construction project by digging out the site with a horse-drawn scraper (this was-a thing like the shovel of a bulldozer, attached to some rigging so that the horse could pull it across the ground, scraping up dirt as it went). The manager of Holt's ice house was Samuel E. Medbourn, and it was he who developed the ice business into a successful industry. But before I can tell you what Medbourn did, I should describe the way in which the ice was harvested.
A 1922 advertisement for Medbourn's Ice Company, from a Maxinkuckee yearbook.
This is where Samuel E. Medbourn's great contribution was made. Holt's ice house was cut off from the lake by the railroad tracks (as any building between the outlet and Jefferson St. would be). This meant that the ice had to be carried over the tracks. In Holt's system, the ice was broken into blocks at the water's edge, and there loaded on a conveyor belt which carried it over the railroad to the ice house, down to the lakeshore. This meant that work had to be halted and the tracks cleared of fallen ice every time a train was due. Now at that time, a drainage ditch ran down Madison St. through what was then a swamp behind the present sites of the Park and Shop parking lot and the Farm Bureau Co-op. It continued under the railroad tracks and down to the lake shore.
1931 Advertisement. Medbourn realized that no efficient harvesting could be done as long as the work had to stop for trains, and he saw that this opening under the railroad was just what he needed. He bought up the swamp, built an ice house on it and used the ditch (along with his natural talent for business) to such advantage that he was soon able to buy out the competition and become the proprietor of both of Culver's ice houses. After the Medbourn Ice Company became a prosperous enterprise, cement channels were built to lead from the house, under the railroad, to the lake at each of the sites, and these channels can still be seen today.
This conveyor was a 1200 foot-long belt of iron links with oak four-by-fours fastened across it at regular intervals. It weighed several tons, and ran from the channel directly past the front of the ice house to a separate building containing the steam engine which powered it. From the engine building it returned to the channel.
The cover of the Jan. 25, 1895 edition of The Marmont Herald boasts that Lake Maxinkuckee that winter would yield "Ice For Millions"
The cover of the Jan. 25, 1895 edition of The Marmont Herald boasts that Lake Maxinkuckee that winter would yield "Ice For Millions"
Ice House after a severe windstorm, possibly the "big wind" of 1913 that also severely damaged the lighthouse in Vandalia Park.
Ice House after a severe windstorm, possibly the "big wind" of 1913 that also severely damaged the lighthouse in Vandalia Park.
March 24, 1943 Culver Citizen reports on the fire that destoryed the Medbourn ice house on East Jefferson Street.
March 24, 1943 Culver Citizen reports on the fire that destoryed the Medbourn ice house on East Jefferson Street.
Ice was first scored by an ice plow, a set of spikes a little bit like a harrow, which left grooves about a foot and a half apart behind them as they were pulled across the ice by horses
Ice was first scored by an ice plow, a set of spikes a little bit like a harrow, which left grooves about a foot and a half apart behind them as they were pulled across the ice by horses
Men standing on planks put over the channel like bridges used pike-poles to break the ice into sets of squares small enough to fit into the next part of the channel
Men standing on planks put over the channel like bridges used pike-poles to break the ice into sets of squares small enough to fit into the next part of the channel
The ice was brought into the cement channel where it was broken into smaller blocks which were then pushed on the conveyor
Two workers standing by two examples of cut ice blocks.
an ice pick from the Culver City Ice Co.
The pick and tongs used by workers to lift and carry blocks of ice.
From 1922 Plat maps show the location of the ice houses on the lake. Medbourn estimates that the two houses together held nearly half a million tons of ice. Some of this was sold in Culver, some from the Medbourn Company's retail outlets in South Bend, Mishawaka and Logansport. The remainder was sent out by the railroad to other cities in Indiana and even to other states, especially those in the south.
From 1922 Plat maps show the location of the ice houses on the lake. Medbourn estimates that the two houses together held nearly half a million tons of ice. Some of this was sold in Culver, some from the Medbourn Company's retail outlets in South Bend, Mishawaka and Logansport. The remainder was sent out by the railroad to other cities in Indiana and even to other states, especially those in the south.
Culver’s ice age ended in 1934, when the Medbourn Company closed up. One of the ice houses was blown down, they say, in a windstorm; the other was used (or so I’m told) for the storage of vegetables, and burned down one year when it was full of onions…I’m not sure whether or not that’s true, but it’s a nice story. tenn `annkennuvar
Several photos are from the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra. Depicted is "Riley" the scarecrow "mascot" of the Medbourn ice house on East Jefferson Street (near the present location of the Culver Cove).
Several photos are from the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra. Depicted is "Riley" the scarecrow "mascot" of the
Medbourn ice house on East Jefferson Street (near the present location of the Culver Cove).
From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra, photos of the crew of the Medbourn ice house, taken in the 1930s "Riley" the mascot is visible as well!).
From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra, photos of the crew of the Medbourn ice house, taken in the 1930s "Riley" the mascot is visible as well!).
From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra, photos of the crew of the Medbourn ice house, taken in the 1930s "Riley" the mascot is visible as well!).
From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra, photos of the crew of the Medbourn ice house, taken in the 1930s "Riley" the mascot is visible as well!).
From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra, photos of the crew of the Medbourn ice house, taken in the 1930s "Riley" the mascot is visible as well!).
Several shots of the Medbourn family and ice house crew, skating and walking on Lake Maxinkuckee near the Medbourn ice house on East Jefferson Street in Culver. From the Donna Edgington collection, courtesy Sherrill Fujimerra.
