When you think about harvesting things in the Hudson Valley apples, grapes even pumpkins come to mind. There is one product you might not think of that is still harvested today.

Ice used to be harvested all over New York and stored in Ice Houses for future use in warm weather. Before refrigeration, this was how things were kept cold. At the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, New York they still harvest ice each winter.

Upstate New York Museum in the Catskills Still Harvests Ice

Hanford Mills Museum Ice Harvest
Hanford Mills Museum via Facebook
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The Hanford Mills Museum still operates a historic water-powered sawmill, gristmill, and woodworking shop. In the winter if it gets cold enough they also harvest ice for use in the summer.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, May to October but they have a special weekend planned this winter for the ice harvest. Join them on Saturday, January 25th, 2025 for their annual ice harvest on the pond at the museum.

The local winter tradition of ice harvesting at Hanford Mills will be from 10 AM to 3 PM. They are currently monitoring the weather to make sure conditions will be good for the harvest. Our cold temperatures lately make it good for ice growth. The weather leading up to the event will ensure the ice is good for the 25th.

According to the video included in this post, the ice stored will be used to make ice cream this summer. So if you go to the ice harvest be sure to get back to the museum on July 4th to enjoy the ice cream made for your hard work.

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