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Conklin Ice House on Lake Mendota. A man is standing in the snow-covered yard in the foreground near a sleigh, and a carriage with a sign painted on the side reading: "Conklin & Sons Mendota Lake Ice." Behind the carriage is a large pile of ice and snow. Men are working on the second floor gallery near wooden ladders and pulleys. On the far left is a box with painted with the words "Howe U.S. Standard," probably a scale. Photo date unknown. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society, WHI 117662.

Did you know our lakes supplied a much-sought-after product representing one of the area’s top exports? Greater Madison’s lakes once played a crucial role in the ice harvesting and refrigeration industry, a significant part of the local economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Harvesting ice at the Conklin Ice House on Lake Mendota. The men are using pike poles to slide the blocks to the conveyor and U-shaped tools to split partially sawed blocks from ice. The steel frame of the new Wisconsin State Capitol is visible to the right of the icehouse. Photo circa 1912. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society, WHI 11341.
Harvesting ice at the Conklin Ice House on Lake Mendota. The men are using pike poles to slide the blocks to the conveyor and U-shaped tools to split partially sawed blocks from ice. The steel frame of the new Wisconsin State Capitol is visible to the right of the icehouse. Photo circa 1912.
Photo courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society, WHI 11341.
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