Ice harvesting was hot business before refrigerator

Harvesting ice, the cutting of natural ice into blocks and storing them in icehouses for summer use, has been called the first agricultural project of the year. Ice was typically cut during January and February, when both the temperature and the ice were right. Members of the Wilton Historical Society recently presented a program on the ice business using the history of the business in Wilton, memories of several residents and background information from the Internet (search for “ice harvesting”). Wilton had several commercial producers. The largest company was owned by Fred Paro, who cut his ice on the mill pond by what is now Label Art. The second largest was Conrad’s, located along Stoney Brook toward Lyndeborough. Fresh Pond Ice Co. on Lake Potanipo in Brookline had a dozen buildings and produced up to 110,000 tons of ice in a good season.