5
The Ice House
The Ice House has to
do with Mattoon being a railroad center for many years. It also
has to do with the fact I can’t recall any families we knew who
had air conditioning. In fact, I can’t recall any businesses
that had air conditioning even though Mattoon gets very hot and
humid during the dog days of summer.
Between Highway 45 (now known as Lakeland Blvd. and 21st Street
on Marshal Avenue ran the major north/south railroad tracks and
another set of tracks that I think is called a spur line. By the
way, both sets of tracks remain and I believe are the only sets
of tracks remaining in Mattoon. Besides the freight trains that
ride the rails of the main line of tracks, “The City of New
Orleans” still ride these rails.
When I was growing up there was a large barn-like building that
sat very near the main set of tracks. This was The Ice House.
Inside they made ice for the freight cars carrying perishable
items since there were no refrigerated cars back then.
Built into the front of the building was a coin-operated vending
machine with a large chute. The residents of Mattoon could buy
their choice of crushed ice that would come down the chute and
need to be bagged or put in whatever container the customer had
brought. The large blocks of ice were handled the same way but
there was (as I recall) a set of ice tongs attached to the
building for the buyer to use.
For motorists driving on Marshal Avenue it was an aggravation if
a long train was having ice added to the freight cars carrying
perishable items because it often took a long time to do. So
they would have to turn around and drive north to Charleston
Avenue where they could cross over the tracks. They could also
be crossed over on the next street north which was Broadway
Avenue and the town’s main drag and business section.
Though the inside of The Ice House wasn’t much more than water
pipes creating ice via some sort of refrigerated system that
froze the water it was like a kingdom to us kids. As long as we
stayed out of the way and away from certain equipment we were
tolerated inside this very plain building.
On very hot and humid days The Ice House was not only a kingdom
of great magic to a young boy but almost a winter wonderland. It
was definitely the coldest place in town and for its simplicity
quite amazing to see ice being “made”!
The Ice House was even better than the million gallon swimming
pool at Lytle Park and what amazes me is so very few of us kids
knew you were allowed to enjoy its cold and magic atmosphere as
long as you “stayed out of the way.”
Yes, life is full of very simple wonders that so many people
miss. Yet, that ice house is long gone and the one remaining in
Mattoon is a bar. Thank God The Ice House Bar has air
conditioning and serves very cold beer.
6
Headliner
My biological father
and Mom lived on South 6th Street when I was born. I am the
first of three children; having a younger sister and two younger
brothers. I, of course, didn’t know this at the time but my
birth made the front page of the local newspaper. The headline
of the story was something like: FIREMEN DELIVER BABY BOY.
They hadn’t really delivered me but it made a good story (I
guess) for a small town newspaper. My Mother actually gave birth
to me at the Mattoon Memorial Hospital. As she was busy
delivering me into this world our house caught on fire. The fire
department was alerted in time to keep the damage to the house
to a minimum.
I know this isn’t very interesting but its fun to brag to my
younger siblings that news of my birth made the front pages of
the hometown newspapers and theirs didn’t. They usually retort
by saying, “Yeah, but Mom must not have been too impressed
because she had three more of us to see if the results would be
any better.”
That’s when youngest child, Denny, will brag, “And after Mom had
me she knew she could never do any better and stopped having
children.”
Of course, being the oldest I always insist on having the last
word which is, “Nah. After trying to duplicate the success she
had with me she finally gave up having any more children after
failing three times.”
