The First Artificial Ice in Shelby Was Shipped by Train

Before Shelby had any way to make ice locally, the first artificial ice used in town was shipped in by train from Charlotte in the early 1890s. The drugstore Kendrick & Kendall, located where Messick’s later stood, had ice sent by express over the Southern Railway. They used it not only to cool drinks, but to make early frozen treats, including something they called “pineapple snow,” made by shaving ice into a custard-like mixture. This was years before Shelby had its own ice plant, meaning that some of the town’s first “modern” refreshments depended entirely on ice hauled in from another city. 

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