ICE CUTTING ON THE RIVER

Before mechanical refrigeration, residents of Moorhead and Fargo used ice cut from the Red River to cool their food and drink. Companies from both cities cut huge blocks of ice from the river around Christmas, before it froze too thick. During the 1920s and 30s, for example, the Moorhead Ice Company cut from the stretch of river between 8th and 12th Avenues South. The ice was stored in their icehouse on 10th Avenue South for door-to-door summertime delivery. The ice business faded rapidly with the coming of mechanical refrigeration in the 1950s.