Let’s cool off during what has been a record-breaking summer by recalling the city’s — and what many call the world’s — first commercial ice production facility.
The Louisiana Ice Works opened on Tchoupitoulas Street in 1868. At the time, the only ice in the city was imported from the northeast, and during a sweltering summer, not much of the frozen product made its way to New Orleans customers.
According to reports in The Daily Picayune, the Louisiana Ice Works plant drew water from the Mississippi River, filtered and purified it using salt, ammonia and heat. The three-hour process produced some 600 pounds of ice in a single batch.
The ice was sold for less than two cents a pound, ending the city’s dependence on natural ice shipped primarily from the northeast. Local demand soared along with the company’s national reputation.
Its success prompted imitators as ice became more available. The company also invited investors, or franchisees, to open their own ice plants in other parts of the state.