In 1865 this land was conveyed by Eliza Barnes (1804-1872) and others to William B. Morgan (1808-1877). Eliza was the widow of Henry Barnes, a veteran of the War of 1812, who lived at 715 North Stokes Street. After Morgan’s death, his heirs sold it in 1879 to Jacob Frederick of Baltimore City. Jacob and his sons, William, Adolphus, and John Frederick opened a new ice house here and traded as Jacob Frederick & Sons of Baltimore. That 1879 year was reported as the largest and most profitable harvest in years with 200,000 tons of ice stored, more than needed in one season. (The parcel of land is described as bounding on the west by Water Street, on the north by the City Wharf at the foot of Erie Street, and on the south by the wharf property of the heirs of John L. Williams).

In 1920, the Ice House was bought by two brothers, William F. Abbott (1886-1924) and Martin L. Abbott (1891-1928) and became known as Abbott’s Ice House. Their yard foreman was Alonzo "Lonnie" Frederick (most likely related to Jacob Frederick & Sons. They had two more brothers, John L. Abbott (1888-1924) and Morris L. Abbott (who served in WWI and died in 1918 in France). The parents were Martin F. Abbott (1856-1926) and Catherine Abbott (1867-1933). These dates show a strange anomaly: William died at 38 years; Martin died at 39; John died at 36 and Morris died at War in 24. Their parents and some spouses, however, lived normal lifespans.

The Ice House was a two-story frame structure with a gable roof, fronting on the Susquehanna River on the east and is shown on the 1921 Sanborn Insurance Map. The two brothers had a business selling “Pure Susquehanna River Ice” cut in blocks. The ice was stacked up between layers of straw and three-inch boards and stored for months in this long building with walls of six-inch sheet cork and rough clapboards.

The business installed a 15-ton vertical single-acting belt-driven enclosed refrigerating machine by York Manufacturing Company in 1923. (Industrial Refrigeration, Volume 65, Dec 1923.) This was most likely installed in the formstone building on Water Street. The brothers also sold Swift’s fertilizer, stone, concrete blocks, lime, and building materials, and in 1925 Martin Abbott added a coal yard (William having died the previous year). William’s widow was Mary Alice McLhinney Abbott (1888-1985), who was the sister of Walter McLhinney (1896-1977) who began the News Depot on North Washington Street.

Several of today’s mature residents remember buying ice from Abbott’s—Carol Owen used to go with her Dad to get ice for their ice cream churn; Victoria Brown Swanson’s family kept a huge ice chunk in the porch icebox for making snow cones; James Clark used to pull a little red wagon from the 900 block of Erie Street to get blocks of ice for their ice box; and Phil Powell’s family used to pick up ice from the ice crushing machine in front after going boating. The marina has kept some of the ice business equipment, which can still be seen.

After the deaths of both Abbott brothers, their interests in the business were sold by the widowed Mary A. Abbott and the mother, Catherine C. Abbott, in 1930 to Abbott Brothers, Inc. In time, others became involved in the business and by 1947 William E. Malm was the President and Mildred A. Schopfer was Secretary and sold the business to the Diamond Supply Company. William Malm’s wife was Mary Abbott Malm. After that it was Diamond Ice and Coal Company in 1951; then Havre de Grace Marina, Inc. in 1956. When Arvid M. and Donna R. Scherpf bought the marina business in 1956 they changed its name to Arvid, Inc. and converted the former ice house into their home.

In 2012 the Marina was bought from the Scherpf family by Chris and Lachelle Scarlato who made many renovations to the property while carefully preserving its history and showcasing its historical features. They renamed it as the Havre de Grace Marine Center, while maintaining its corporate name as Arvid, Inc.

Two historic structures make up the current Marine Center. The colorful formstone one along Water Street makes up the main part of the Marine Center. Built in 1917, this was the processing facility for Abbott’s Ice House, and now has the original ice block processing machine on the front porch. Several of the original doors of the ice house remain in place. Many of this building’s exterior walls are at least a foot thick and filled with cork, as are many ceilings.

The second structure faces the river and contains two stories at the east end where it was formerly used as a clubhouse by the Upper Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club. It has a large picture window on the second story that provides a magnificent view of the Susquehanna River. A deck with a balustrade is in front of the window. The one-story addition on the west has a gable roof parallel to the one on the main structure; both of the roofs are covered with corrugated tin. The roof on the main structure used to be painted with a sign for “Carter’s Liver Pills.” This building has been stabilized and improved and the owners say it will undergo further renovation in the future.

The Havre de Grace Marine Center received an award from the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission in 2015, which acknowledged the stone building on the street front as an example of adaptive re-use, as it now houses offices, a boaters’ lounge, sail loft, marine store, and a large furnished suite on the second floor. The Center is still owned by Arvid, Inc.

County Records
Commercial property, 17,836 sq ft on 1.46 acre lot.