Estate Entrance History

History Nugget #1 – Estate Entrance History. Step back in time at the gateway to Historic Shady Lane

As you arrive at Historic Shady Lane, you’re greeted by two beautiful stone buildings with arched entrances, remnants of a time when the estate was both a working farm and a summer retreat.

The building on the right is the original Icehouse, dating back to the 1800s. Before modern refrigeration, ice was cut from the pond and packed inside the Icehouse, stacked floor to ceiling and insulated with sawdust (which still clings to the walls today). The floor is made of dirt and drops about three feet below the lower doorway. When it was time to load more ice, wagons would back up to the higher entrance, making it easy to fill the room to the top. Beyond food storage, the Icehouse was also part of an early form of central air conditioning, used to help cool the main house during the warmer months.

This innovation was part of a larger vision by Fred Small, a wealthy industrialist from the Elmwood Mansion in York. In the early 1900s, Fred was developing the property into his personal summer estate, which he named Green Acres.

When trolley cars began operating in Manchester, Fred built a Trolley Station at the entrance to serve his guests. The trolley didn’t just bring visitors—it also helped local farmers. They were able to store their milk in the Icehouse, where it stayed cool until the trolley came by to transport it into York. Guests arriving by trolley followed a charming sidewalk past the 2-acre pond and up toward the bandstand. A second path led along the stream to the Rose Garden, offering a picturesque welcome to the estate.

What now feels like a quiet, timeless entrance once bustled with innovation, community, and summer celebration. It still holds that same magic today.