New England's icier past
At the Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Mass.: Left, items from the Cape Pond Ice Company Collection, including blueprints and listings of assets. Right, Cape Pond Ice Wharf, circa 1930s.
—Photo by Henry Williams
Winters were colder and longer in southern New England not that long ago, historically speaking. Ice was a major “crop,’’ with much of it shipped in sawdust to warmer climes, and many harbors froze up most winters, sometimes for weeks.