ice house

[mjb Mike]

found a couple old ice houses one in 2 different places sat but didnt have time to detect it.were they built close to a house.Im guessing they were built within walking distance to the house

 

[Blackfoot58]

found a couple old ice houses one in 2 different places sat but didnt have time to detect it.were they built close to a house.Im guessing they were built within walking distance to the house

Yes, and oftentimes near a spring. The spring house was for keeping, butter, cream, milk cans, etc. It seems the ice house was frequently near the spring house, in cases where a property had both.

 

[mjb Mike]

thanks hopefully ill get back out there this weekend to detect them

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

As with all out buildings be sure to hunt around the buildings (they to a long time to build) but also ...
hunt the straightest path from the house to the out buildings up and down - at least several passes wide.
Doing this often results in good finds.

Good Luck !

 

[mjb Mike]

thanks weather is bad little snow on the ground put hoping to get out of work early enough tomorrow to detect

 

[wainzoid]

Water in a spring house would be 54-55 degrees year round. It wouldn't freeze. Ice was usually cut from ponds or lakes or a dam.
an ice house had to be fairly large to keep ice for half the year.
They cut blocks of ice and packed them in sawdust to insulate.

 

[Blackfoot58]

Water in a spring house would be 54-55 degrees year round. It wouldn't freeze. Ice was usually cut from ponds or lakes or a dam.
an ice house had to be fairly large to keep ice for half the year.
They cut blocks of ice and packed them in sawdust to insulate.

Yes. But if both were on a property, they were often near each other.