Before the advent of modern refrigeration, one of the main economic activities in Weirs Beach was harvesting ice from frozen Lake Winnipesaukee, and storing the ice for later use. As can be seen in the 1892 map below, the location of the original ice house in Weirs Beach was at the southern edge of Moulton's Cove, on Paugus Bay. The ice house's location adjacent to the railroad tracks made perfect sense, as the ice could be easily loaded onto freight trains and shipped elsewhere. According to a January 24, 1909 Laconia Democrat article, "....the Morrill-Atwood Ice Co. of Wakefield, MA, who supply many of the large hotels in Boston, were filling their ice houses, near the Weirs on Lake Paugus."

In 1909, this was a very competitive industry, and there were many companies involved. as the raw product was free, and little capital was required to enter the business. In March of that year, the Laconia Democrat noted that the ice companies had "finished cutting for the season. The total amount cut by the Independent being 125,000 tons, and 35,000 tons by the Lawrence Ice. Co. A party from Boston, who has excellent courage, commence this week, cutting 100 car loads at Gardner's Grove."

While no photo of the Weirs Beach ice house is available, click here to see a picture of an ice house in Lakeport. On January 17, 1909, according to the Laconia Democrat, the Independent Ice Company was filling their ice house in Lakeport, the ice "being from twelve to fifteen inches thick."

There was also an ice house on the Lake Winnipesaukee side of Weirs Beach, in the approximate location of today's marina at the northern end of Centenary Avenue.





On Lake Winnipesaukee, the ice would have been harvested between Ice-In and Ice-Out. Ice-In is defined as the date on which Lake Winnipesaukee is completely covered by ice, without any large open spots, and usually occurs between the 15th and 30th of January. In 2009, Ice-In occured on January 9.

Interestingly, even though water freezes at 32 degrees, the Lake cannot freeze over until all of its water cools to 39 degrees in temperature. Here is an explanation as to why by Winnipesaukee.com member This'nThat: "Water is most dense at 39 degrees, so water at that temperature sinks, and warmer lake water rises to the surface -- which also must be cooled to 39 degrees -- which sinks, is replaced by warmer water, and so on until everything is at 39 degrees. When that temperature is reached, there is no more warm water to rise to the surface. Therefore, the surface water can now begin to freeze and ice begins to form and stay on the lake. This "water density at 39 degrees" also explains why shallow lakes freeze quicker than deep lakes like Winni. Deep lakes have much more water that needs to be cooled to 39 degrees."

Ice-Out is declared when the cruise ship MS Mount Washington can visit all of its main ports of Weirs Beach, Wolfeboro, Alton Bay, Center Harbor, and Meredith. This usually occurs around April 20, give or take a week. The earliest Ice-Out was on March 29, 1921, the latest on May 12, 1888. In 2008, Ice-Out occured on April 23.

According to a Laconia Citizen article dated January 10, 2009, melting occurs at an accelerated rate once the average air temperature hits 34 degrees. Why this is so needs a good explanation.

Below, men chopping ice in front of downtown Wolfeboro, 1880's. Ice chopping was mechanized soon after. The NH Historical Society Museum in Concord has a mechanized ice chopper on display.