NPS Santa Fe National Historic Trail
  • Home
  • Downloads
  • Return to Portal
  • 0945. Ice House

    Aerial view of the fort with a red circle the center of Officers' Row (west side) indicating the location of the ice house.

    An earthen, shingle-roofed dugout in the bank of the river sheltered ice cut in winter for officers’ use in summertime. Here are some reports about the Ice House.


    January 1869 report by Assistant Surgeon W. H. Forwood:


    "The ice house stands on the bank of the creek near the post, in the rear of the commanding officer’s quarters, the sides are of earth up to the eaves, the roof is shingled and to protect the ice from the heat of the sun has been lined on the inside leaving a space of two feet between the building and the roof, it has a capacity of four hundred tons of ice and is ventilated by a draft in the center."


    1875 report of A.A.Q.M. Lt. C.B. Hall, 19th Infantry:


    "There are two ice houses at the post, with a capacity for six hundred tons each. Each winter these buildings are filled with good ice put up by the troops."