Uniquely Texas: Icehouses

You see them all over Texas – “Ice Houses”.

The front of the place is wide open with at least one, and frequently several, overhead garage doors. Air conditioning is almost non-existent and to the “purist” would disqualify the establishment as a Texas Icehouse.

The hallmarks of these uniquely Texas institutions are an open-air feel, plenty of iced-down cold beer, pool tables, shuffleboard, a juke box and the ever-present neon signs advertising Lone Star Beer, Stroh’s, Fat Tire, Miller, Rolling Rock, Dos Equis, Cerveza, Bud and a few brands you have never heard of. Frequently the neon still glows with the names of breweries that have long since gone out of business.

The concept dates back a hundred years to the icehouses that provided ice long before the days of refrigeration. Ice wagons delivered door-to-door so the families could keep restocking their iceboxes. By the 1920’s the icehouses were beginning to sell milk, bread, beer and a few other convenience items.

Even after home refrigeration became more prevalent many of these local icehouses had become neighborhood institutions – sort of a cross between a town hall, a lodge, the grange and a community center all rolled into one. It was where the locals gathered to visit, exchange news, gossip and maybe even do a little horse trading.

But time moves on and urban sprawl wiped out many icehouses as land became more valuable and the encroaching creep of civilization has crowded out many of the original icehouses. Not all icehouses date back to the 20’s, many of the new ones (those less than 75 years old) at one time housed oil-change businesses, convenience stores or even warehouses.

Most icehouses have an outside area with picnic tables; shade and places to hold chili, bar-b-cue or gumbo cook offs.

Every icehouse has its own unique identity and its own base of loyal “regulars” sitting along the bar, chatting at the tables or just milling around outside shooting the bull and hanging out with friends.

For bikers these places are perfect and the “biker” icehouses can be easily spotted by the pack of motorcycles parked near the open doors. Bikers can keep an eye on their own bikes, admire the bikes belonging to others and they always have people to “talk motorcycles” with.

Long motorcycle trips, short rides and poker runs generally start and end at the local icehouse. What is better after days on the road than finishing the trip at your favorite icehouse to relive the experience and share your memories with friends?

Biker weddings are unique events (a lot less solemn than in other locations) and are frequently held in the couple’s favorite icehouse.

Every icehouse has a table or bulletin board with information about upcoming motorcycle events. Clubs or promoters wouldn’t think of trying to have a successful event without placing their flyers and other information in all of the area icehouses.

Icehouses still abound in the area from East Texas to San Antonio and down along the border in South Texas. Each icehouse has its own character and clientele – cowboys, Hispanics, blue-collar workers, oil patch workers and bikers. Frequently you will see a mix of some, or even all, of these groups enjoying...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "Icehouses". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of May / June 2004 where this article was originally published.

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