HoehmTown Happenings

Ice, Ice Baby!

The Knickerbocker Ice Festival Returns to Clarkstown

It’s hard to imagine now, but Rockland Lake was once the site of one of the largest and most successful industrial operations in the Hudson Valley. Prior to the widespread availability of household refrigeration in the early 1920s, ice harvesting was a major industry in the United States, and Rockland Lake was the primary supply source for all of New York City. 

In 1831, the founders of what would later become known as the Knickerbocker Ice Company set up an ice harvesting business on the eastern shores of Rockland Lake. Each winter, crews of workers would carefully score and cut blocks of ice measuring roughly 18×30” in diameter from the frozen lake. These blocks, weighing approximately 260-280 lbs apiece,  were carried by conveyor belts to wooden icehouses that lined the shoreline. From there, the ice traveled over Hook Mountain on railways to awaiting barges on the Hudson River and ultimately into homes, businesses, and restaurants throughout New York City and beyond. Rockland Lake ice quickly gained a reputation for being among the purest and highest quality available, and the demand for ice from the lake grew rapidly. In 1855, a number of  local ice harvesting companies combined and incorporated as the Knickerbocker Ice Company. 

At its peak, the operation’s icehouses stored up to 100,000 lbs of ice and Knickerbocker employed approximately 3,000 workers. According to a report from 1866, Rockland Lake ice was shipped as far away as India and Australia. The Knickerbocker operation was so famous that Thomas Edison made three short films about the harvesting process at the lake in 1902. But by the early 1920s, refrigeration technology and the ability to create ice at home advanced to the point where it was accessible to most consumers. In the winter of 1924, the Knickerbocker Ice Company harvested its last block of ice and closed down its Rockland Lake facilities. 

In 2007, local residents Timothy Englert and Robert Patalano launched an event commemorating Rockland Lake’s ice-making history. The first “Knickerbocker Ice Festival” began that year with Patalano, a professional ice sculptor, carving an 18 foot-tall ice sculpture replica of one of the original Rockland Lake icehouses. The sculpture drew hundreds of spectators to the lake and quickly grew to hosting more than 25,000 visitors within just a few years. Unfortunately, Mr. Patalano’s passing and other factors led to the event’s demise. Now, after 12 years of dormancy, the festival is returning to Rockland Lake on January 31-Feb 1, 2026.The revival will feature igloos and ice sculptures celebrating our local history and a special nod to the 250th anniversary of America’s revolutionary path to independence.  In addition to the ice and snow art, footage from Edison’s 1902 film shorts will be projected onto a 10-foot screen and enlarged post cards featuring the lake’s ice-harvesting past will be displayed. 

The weekend forecast calls for cold temperatures, but attendees can keep warm with campfires and hot beverages. Food trucks will be on site, as well. If you have attended this festival in the past, you already know how amazing these sculptures are to behold. I want to thank Mr. Englert and his fellow organizers for reviving this wonderful tradition celebrating a part of our history that played a key role in the development of our town.

Dress warm and come take a stroll through Clarkstown’s past at Rockland Lake this weekend!