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Ice harvesting was a thriving industry in the 19th century, employing tens of thousands of workers in New England alone. Big blocks of ice were removed with jagged-toothed saws from frozen rivers, lakes and ponds, packed in sawdust and shipped around the world.

Having access to ice year-round changed the way people kept and ate food. Then came the advent of electric refrigeration. Cutting natural ice by hand became virtually obsolete. But there are still a few places where the tradition is carried on, places such as South Bristol, Maine.

Every Presidents’ Day weekend, hundreds of people from the coastal community and beyond turn out for an old-fashioned ice harvest. It takes place on a small pond framed by tall trees and a rustic barn. Ken Lincoln, his brother Todd, and several other men rise early in the morning to do what they learned more than 40 years ago as kids — lay out the long saws and ice picks to take out the first few blocks of ice from the pond.

Lincoln is president of the Thompson Ice House Preservation Corporation, which operates an onsite museum and sponsors the annual event. He wears thick coveralls, a flannel shirt and ice grippers on his boots. This is slippery business.

In Maine, Residents Slice Through Thick Ice To Keep A Tradition From Melting Away

Photo: Rebecca Conley/Maine Public