Milwaukee River

Breweries and packers harvested the eastern shore and the western shore of the Milwaukee River above the North Avenue dam.

Unsuitable for consumption, the ice was useful for railway cars and storing beer.

Lake Pewaukee

The Best (later Pabst) Brewery established a natural-ice plant at Pewaukee Lake in the 1870's.

In the 1880's, the brewery sold the plant to the Armour Company, which harvested ice for its meat packing companies. High quality ice and Pewaukee's location near the Milwaukee Road railroad made the lake an ideal site.

At peak production, Armor had a 175,000 ton capacity. The plant burnt to the ground in 1903 and was never rebuilt.

North Lake
Dousman
Lake Okauchee
Fowler Lake

In the Oconomowoc area, Chicago-based Knickerbocker harvested most of its ice from Folwer Lake and Lake Okauchee. They also harvested ice from North Lake.

After the Milwaukee Road built a branch line to North Lake, this lake was the last in southeastern Wisconsin used for large-scale ice harvesting.

The Milwaukee-based Wisconsn Lakes Ice and Cartage Company harvested small lakes around the town of Dousman.

Browns Lake

Swift had its biggest Wisconsin operations on Browns Lake.

Lake Geneva

Two Chicago firms harvested ice from the southeastern shore of Lake Geneva.

Rock Lake

Rock Lake's proximity to the Chicago and North Western rail lines made the lake a good site for harvesting ice.

Lake Monona
Lake Wingra
Lake Waubesa
Lake Mendota

Chicago companies operated throughout southern Wisconsin.

As Armour's biggest competitor, Swift Company usually harvested ice closer to Chicago. The railway lines made it easy for Swift to harvest ice from Wisconsin's Lake Waubesa.

Chicago-based Knickerbocker harvested from Lakes Monona and Wingra.

Smaller companies harvested from Lake Mendota, which was too far away from the railway.

Watertown

Both Chicago firms and local brewers cut ice from the deep bend of the Rock River.

The Wisconsin Ice Trade
At its height in the late 19th century, the national ice harvesting industry produced eight million tons of ice a year. The largest consumers included meat-packing plants, railroads, and breweries. In one year alone, breweries consumed three million tons of ice to make and distribute beer.

The thick, clear ice of Wisconsin's lakes was ideal for ice harvesting. Operations close to railways (marked with blue lines on our map) efficiently delivered ice throughout the Midwest and South.

The ice harvesting industry fizzled in the 1920's. Railways lost interest in transporting ice. Improved mechanical cooling systems and increased scrutiny over water purity made natural ice less attractive. Finally, the unseasonably warm winter of 1920-21 finished the industry.