This circa 1870 ice house originally built on the Rapalye property on Rte. 376 across from East Fishkill town hall was moved to this site in 2013 after the Rapalye farmhouse was lost to a fire. In the days before refrigeration, keeping perishables cold in the summer was a difficult task. The solution for the earliest settlers was to cut blocks of ice from frozen ponds and lakes and store them
either underground or in “ice houses” such as ours at the Brinckerhoff House Historic Site. The blocks were packed tight between sawdust or hay to keep the blocks from sticking together. The building contains several displays of photos and tools from the time when ice was harvested, delivered and stored. The three levels of doors allowed for the ice to be stacked high from the bottom up and removed from the top as needed in the spring and summer.