ROCKLAND LAKE: Rockland Lake group preserves icehouse heritage - 2 October, 2008

Rockland Lake group preserves icehouse heritage

Laura Incalcaterra
The Journal News

ROCKLAND LAKE - Hard work and heritage will be honored Saturday when a historical marker is dedicated at Rockland Lake State Park.

By celebrating the lake's past, supporters hope to highlight the significance of the community that grew up around it, one that helped supply the ice that kept food fresh in New York City before the invention of refrigeration.

"People who come here today don't realize there was something here before," said Rob Maher, whose family settled in the hamlet more than 150 years ago.

Today's visitors think the woods were always here and that the area was simply a serene spot, he said.

But Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain want people to know how important the community was in the country's history, said Maher, who is president of the group.

He and Regina Rodwell-Bell co-founded the nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to preserving local history, as well as the Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain state parks.

Rockland Lake is among the most visited of New York's state parks, attracting walkers, runners, cyclists, hikers and those who go to enjoy the swimming pools and picnic grounds or go fishing and boating.

The freshwater lake and surrounding property were purchased by the state and made into a park in 1964.

But Rockland Lake's roots stretch much deeper. It was home first to Native Americans and later to a thriving ice industry that earned the community the nickname "Icehouse of New York City."

Knickerbocker Ice Co. was established at Rockland Lake in 1831. By 1884, the company employed nearly 3,000 men, owned a dozen steamboats and about 75 ice barges, shipping the ice harvested from the lake across the country.

Knickerbocker's Ice House No. 3 could store more than 40,000 tons of harvested ice. The walls of the wood storehouse were insulated with sawdust to keep the ice blocks frozen until they were shipped to buyers in the summer.

When workers weren't cutting ice in winter, they were pounding rocks in warmer months, heading to nearby quarries and the brickyards of northern Rockland, Maher said.

Many of the workers brought or started their families in the county and Rockland Lake soon was home to a thriving community, he said.

Rockland Lake's ice business began to collapse in the early 20th century. In 1926, Knickerbocker burned down, and in the ensuing years, advances in refrigeration eventually brought an end to the ice industry. Over the decades, casinos and hotels, even an amusement park, were located at Rockland Lake, Maher said.

That history and the heritage of those who toiled at Rockland Lake and the nearby quarries at Hook Mountain, will be honored with the placement of the marker.

In addition to the marker dedication this weekend, Maher plans to lead a walking tour of the community Oct. 18. Some ruins from the former icehouses still can be seen.

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