A frozen history of the
Ice Box of New York City
as told by archival and private images from the people who experienced it.
Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain, and Nyack Beach
are located just 30 miles north of New York City. From the 1830s to 1930, the area was one of the largest producers of natural ice and was also the site of large traprock quarries.
On the western side of
Hook Mountain
lies
Rockland Lake
, the only natural spring-fed lake entirely located in Rockland County. The lake was known around the world for its famous pure
blue ice
and was referred to as the
ice box of New York City
. In the 1910s, the area became a popular day-trip destination for steamboats from New York City and eventually became an active summer community in the 1920s. In 1965, the
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
opened
Rockland Lake State Park
. Today, the
PIPC
parks of
Nyack Beach, Hook Mountain, and Rockland Lake
are some of the most visited New York State parks.
The family of author Robert C. Maher Jr. have been residents of Rockland Lake for over 170 years. He founded
The Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain, Inc.
, in an effort to preserve this history of the area for future generations.