“ice house”
As a settler back in the early 1900s no one would have thought that anyone could survive in the desert. Its dry conditions and overbearing heat, then its mild yet cold winters, made it hard to think of it as a place to live, grow crops or develop as a thriving community, but it took only a few men to realize that it was possible to “squeeze blood from a turnip.” Part of making this new Western town was the Las Vegas ice plant; a manufacturer of ice for the railroads as well as for the locals who made the decision to make a life in this remote, desolate desert. The struggles that this place, referred to as the “ice house,” endured where catastrophic, but in the end it would be one of the most instrumental gateways for building a community in this baron, unforgiving land many thought was uninhabitable. The life of the ice house goes all the way back to 1906, and it operated until 1983. In the early days, railroads were being built which offered work for hundreds of people. The railroad was a means for transporting perishable goods between California, Utah and Nevada. Before refrigerated railroad cars, the ice house provided a way of getting fresh produce from state to state and city to city without spoilage. At first the railroad that had brought many jobs to the area suffered a downturn, and many jobs were lost. The ice house was destroyed by fire, and without investors it wasn’t likely that a community could thrive, but by 1917 the original railroad was sold to Union Pacific Railroads, and the ice house was built again. Again the city was in need of workers for building this little isolated town. There were very few businesses and even fewer streets. Actually, the only paved road that was in Las Vegas was Fremont Street, a one-way street that was part of the state highway. There was Sears Roebuck and the Mesquite Grocery Store, which were the only two brick buildings that existed. The surrounding businesses were wooden structures including The First State Bank and the Boulder City Club as well as some shacks that offered beer, whiskey and clubs to play betting games. Despite this very small community’s growth of businesses, critics were still very skeptical that this town would be able to sustain itself or even become a major metropolitan area. As workers were brought in to build and work the railroad they were often given a bunkhouse to live in. These tiny little shacks had nothing but beds: no running water, kitchens or bathrooms. Workers gathered at a tiny mess hall to eat. This building still stands today, located at Third and Commerce streets. As laborers learned of the new grandiose plans of the largest dam project (Hoover Dam), they felt as though this little dirt town would one day be a place to settle down and raise a family. The tiny bunkers that were once used for a place to sleep were now being purchased and turned into homes as men moved their families to town. So now more than ever the ice house was an absolute necessity. It was one of the most high-tech manufacturing plants of its time. It provided jobs as well as a means for locals to preserve food, and it also generated electricity for the town. It made the land livable! The ice house provided ice until 1983, and like many other abandoned buildings in the downtown Las Vegas area, this ice house, which was part of the National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, sat empty for a long period of time and was eventually taken over by vagrants and finally leveled due to safety issues. So as you pass the railroad downtown, just remember that the dream of making this place livable was truly dependent on the railroads and the Hoover Dam aided by way of the innovative manufacturing of the ice house.
ISSUE 26
MAY 2014
dtZEN.com
Downtown ZEN
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