Ice House - 1st location [1845-1851]

Submitted by annelisec on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 18:04
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
Date closed / demolished

The "Ice House", where the ice was stored, is was on IL 57 between Duddell and Ice House Lane on an 1846 map and can be seen in an 1846 painting. 

The company that established it, and got the land free from the Govenment at no rent, but it did not do very well.  It closed in about 1850, and "asked" the Govenrment to sell the property to that swindler George Duddell - which they did - on a 999 year lease.

 

Later place(s) at this location

Photos that show this Place

1846
1846

Comments

Do the pictures from 1846 and 1870 show the first Ice House, or the next building on that site? The map is of lots for auction, and the 1846 picture apparently shows a new building under construction.

I wonder if the first structure was anything substantial, or just a matshed?

Also, I think the marker needs to move to the south side of Duddell St.

There is a fairly substantial history of the Hong Kong ice industry, placing the first Ice House, on page 4 of the January 9, 1905 edition of the Hongkong Telegraph. Incidentally (and not mentioned in the article) locally-frozen ice first went on sale here on September 10, 1874, sounding the death-knell for ice importer the Tudor Company as prices plummeted. The sellers were Scotsmen Kyle and Bain, who had spent that summer installing new machinery at East Point. They bought out the Tudor Co in 1878.

The HK Daily Press edition of June 12, 1883 has a quite detailed and longish article about disputed usage rights and historical ownership of the Ice House. It also mentions the Lot number: 564.