Barnegat Cold Storage Building
The Barnegat Power and Cold Storage Company was started in 1913 by
Christian Hiering. The power plant supplied both Seaside Heights and Seaside Park with their first source of commercial electricity. During World War I the company expanded to become a food storage company, freezing fish and other foods.
The plant was located between Central, Sherman and Grant Avenues. In its final days it was familiar to many people as a place to buy ice and frozen bait.
It was torn down and to build Rainbow Rapids in 1977. That water park was later renamed Smuggler's Quay. It was demolished in 2006. I haven't yet found out anything definitive about the original building, other than I remember stopping there with my grandfather when I was very young. Please add a comment below or write me if you have any information or photos of the original structure.
About Barnegat Ice Plant
Hello friend,
I used to work there.
I pulled 300 pound blocks of ice, packed fish, scrapped the freezer pipes to remove frost, and in general cleaned up.
That was when I was young.
I made some money to pay bills while I was going to college.
Had a really great time there. Liked to work and be productive.
I can remember some of my buddies who worked there.
Some are dead and some are still living.
Made one enemy, but that's his problem.
Hurt a customer accidentally and I'm sorry for that.
He survived.
Liked my bosses, Ally and the other guy,can't remember his name.
They used to call me bunker boots because I would always smell like bunkers. The fish we packed in ice by the thousands !
We packed in ice all sorts of fish for the Philadelphia markets and others.
Squid, bluefish, bunkers for bait, swordfish, lobsters, clams, etc. What a place.
Tractor trailers used to come in packed full of wooden drums of fish.
We would unload each truck, wash in water, and measure 25 pounds each flat box, fill with water, then put in freezers for storage.
We would make 300 pound blocks of ice, chip in blocks of 50 pounds for customers, and grind up for icecubes to sell at various ice cube machines.
Another store in South Toms River was a liquor store which sold spirits and our ice cubes.
A liquor store was also attached to the ice plant.
The two bosses ran that. And maybe consumed too much of the spirits too !.
What a place.
When I was on ice duty, that was an all day job, I liked to glance out the window and watch below as the people would get out of their cars and fill up with fresh spring water out of our tap. I was particularly interested when the girls would bend over to fill their gallon jugs. Um, you know what I mean. Nice pictures anyway. Ha.
Oh yeah, painting.
We would mix beach sand with gray paint and paint the steps, walkways,etc. to prevent slipping better.
It worked great.
Pete the engineer, who was in charge of the two diesel generators the provided the gas and electricity for the whole plant, was a great friend. He put me on a path of engineering endeavors that has lasted until today. Such a nice guy.
I wish I was young again.
Ed
the other guys names was
the other guys names was sonny and ollie and the night time guy was marty
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