Sodus Cold Storage in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of Bill Bishop
Sodus Cold Storage under construction circa 1914. Photo courtesy of Bill Bishop
Sodus Cold Storage 2020. Photos courtesy of Edith Farrington
The following information comes from Bill Bishop who is the Chairman of the Board of the Sodus Cold Storage:
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It started in 1914 with his grandfather, Tom Raetz and several other shareholders. It was originally founded to provide an icing station on the New York Central Railroad. “Icing the cars” included loading big cakes of ice onto RR cars to refrigerate produce.
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It is believed to have been the second Cold Storage facility in the area. North Rose Cold Storage dates back to 1898.
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Other early shareholders included the Burns and Case families.
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Ed Bishop, Bill’s father buys out many others.
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The Cold Storage started out refrigerating vegetables, such as potatoes, celery and tomatoes for local growers. The produce was shipped to NYC by rail.
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Started storing cherries about 1926.
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POW’s worked here during WWII.
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They did Controlled Atmosphere (C.A.) for a while
2014 was its 100th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Edith Farrington 2020
Bill Bishop did several interviews about the Sodus Cold Storage with Sandi Hamilton, Jim Hopkins and Steve Heald (from left to right):
Photo courtesy of Edith Farrington 2020.
Bill Bishop tells the story of the Sodus Cold Storage in two interviews.
Part 1 is 73 minutes long and he tells the following:
Bill Bishop Interview Sodus Cold Storage Summation 1/27/2020
Along with Bill Bishop there are Sandi Hamilton, Jim Hopkins and Steven Heald in attendance.
Bill tells much about the history of the Sodus Cold Storage:
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It started in 1914 with his grandfather, Tom Raetz and several other shareholders.
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Bill mentions several other shareholders, such as the Burns and Case families.
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Ed Bishop, Bill’s father buys out many others.
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The Cold Storage started out refrigerating vegetables, such as potatoes, celery and tomatoes for local growers. The produce was shipped to NYC by rail.
-
Started storing cherries about 1926.
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POW’s worked here during WWII.
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They did Controlled Atmosphere (C.A.) for a while. Bill explains how this works, in detail.
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Bill has photos to share.
To listen to the interview, click the link below. This is a large file so ignore any Can’t scan for viruses message you might get. It’s safe:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yOXcHlpw_dlN3XaIOUyFIFHSZLOsCkK8/view?usp=sharing
The second interview takes place on March 2, 2020 and has two parts.
Bill Bishop Interview Summary March 2 2020, Part 1
Bill Bishop meets with Sandi Hamilton, Jim Hopkins & Steve Heald.
Bill shares in this 85 minute interview how the Sodus Cold Storage has evolved over the years. Also, included discussion of
buildings and families connected to the Sodus Fruit Farm. They mention the Farmerettes and the George / Bye Hopkins family, for example.
To listen to the interview, click the link below. This is a large file so ignore any Can’t scan for viruses message you might get. It’s safe:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pr5KLVayF6lD2XUE0waQZWo3-wNf3kX4/view?usp=sharing
Bill Bishop interview summary March 2, 2020, Part 2.
Bill Bishop shares with Sandi Hamilton, Jim Hopkins and Steve Heald.
During this 28 minute interview, they view and discuss photos including some of the properties in Rochester, NY. They also discuss “icing the cars” which includes loading big cakes of ice onto RR cars to refrigerate produce.
Here are the photos they discuss:
The above 4 photos courtesy of Steven Heald