Cape Pond Ice Company

Cape Pond Ice Company was started as Gloucester Co. in 1848 by blacksmith Nathaniel R. Webster, who recognized the need for supplying the fresh fish industry with a reliable, volume source of ice. Prior to that time fish – primarily halibut & cod – was preserved by salting and brine. Webster dammed a local brook and built his first ice house on what became known as Webster’s Pond, today the site of Veteran’s Memorial School and the Route 128 extension. The ice industry went through rapid growth, and within four years Webster built ice houses on Upper & Lower Day’s Ponds, where Foster’s Serv Station is located, and on Cape Pond in Rockport, which the company is still named after. Webster’s son took over the Cape Ann ice monopoly in 1858. Cape Pond Ice Company was started as Gloucester Co. in 1848 by blacksmith Nathaniel R. Webster, who recognized the need for supplying the fresh fish industry with a reliable, volume source of ice. Prior to that time fish – primarily halibut & cod – was preserved by salting and brine. Webster dammed a local brook and built his first ice house on what became known as Webster’s Pond, today the site of Veteran’s Memorial School and the Route 128 extension. The ice industry went through rapid growth, and within four years Webster built ice houses on Upper & Lower Day’s Ponds, where Foster’s Serv Station is located, and on Cape Pond in Rockport, which the company is still named after. Webster’s son took over the Cape Ann ice monopoly in 1858.