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Eagle River, Wisconsin's annual ice castle
Experience nearly 80 years of tradition at this unique vacation getaway
What follows is a n'ice story ... an ice story ...
Each winter, volunteers, headed by the area firefighters, put in more than 700 hours to cut nearly 3,000, one-foot ice blocks from a local lake, haul them to downtown Eagle River, Wisconsin, and build a huge ice castle.
Eagle River's ice castle has become a popular attraction for motorists, snowmobilers, locals and visitors. Dozens of people stop each day to photograph the 20-foot high structure along Highway 45 North, in the middle of town.
The ice palace is a cool facade that is at once transparent and opaque, depending on the light, and it comes in a variety of shapes and sizes each year.
The ice castle has been happening in Eagle River on-and-off since the late 1920s, with a few years missed in the 40s, probably due to World War II. It is now constructed annually, weather permitting, on the weekend closest to New Years, according to Pat Weber, Chief of the Eagle River area's Volunteer Fire Department.
The Eagle River Ice Castle was originated by C. H. Hanke, who owned the Eagle River ice route way-back-when. Hanke's grandson, Jack Thomas, a current fire department volunteer, who plays a large part in the ice castle's construction, was two years old in a photo of the 1938 ice palace.
When asked how the ice palace got its start, Thomas speculated, "There probably weren't a lot of things to do in the winter back then; and, since my grandfather was cutting the ice anyway, and probably had some ice left over, he began building the early structures."
Hanke may have begun modestly, but the ice castle has grown, developed and evolved ever since.
According to Thomas, the local Lions Club took over construction of the ice palace when the project became too big for a small group of individuals. Then, about ten years ago, the Eagle River Volunteer Fire Department took the mission for the same reasons. "It's a wonderful project," comments Fire Chief Weber. "We take pride in our community -- and we do the ice castle for the same reasons we're volunteer firemen -- to serve the community and the people of the area," he said with a smile.
With a different design each year, the ice palace gets "a little bigger and taller each time," Weber said. Thomas studies pictures of previous ice palaces and plans the general designs, Weber said.
"One design we won't repeat is the ice castle we built that had round towers," Weber said. 'It took a tremendous amount of time and effort to round off each ice block; and the volunteers told me in no uncertain terms that would be the last Ice Palace we'd build with anything round," he recalled.
The volunteers still use some of the original equipment, including an ice saw and the conveyor Hanke used to get the ice blocks from Silver Lake to the pickup truck.
According to Thomas, originally the volunteers jacked up a model A Ford and used the rear wheels to turn the conveyor. Today, that same conveyor is turned by the hydraulics from a wood splitter.
First, the ice is scored and cut on Eagle River's Silver Lake. Then, about 3000 blocks, 10 inches by 10 inches by 20 inches, are removed from the lake. Each weighs between 60 to 70 pounds. The ice blocks are trucked to the site, and the construction begins. Other than the conveyor, the work is all done by hand.
A photo of the 1940 Ice Palace shows multi-level parapets, with American flags flying from one of the towers; a 1942 photo shows an obelisk-shaped ice castle sporting a V and a red cross. Another photo, date unknown, shows a rounded structure, about 20-feet high, with windows and a door.
A more recent photo shows a group of snowmobilers posed in front of the widespread walls of an ice castle, garnished by wreaths and a couple of fir trees.
In recent years, colored floodlights were added to illuminate the palace at night, and there are some spectacular color photos silhouetting people in front of the castle.
"I spent all of my growing up years on a resort ten miles or so out of town," a former Eagle River resident recently wrote to the Chamber of Commerce. "After I grew up and moved away, I enjoyed so much seeing the ice castle on the rare visits I could make. ...Last year's [ice palace was] ... stunning... it's such a special part of Eagle River's winters."
The ice palace is "one of the most photographed attractions in our area," says a Chamber of Commerce spokesperson.
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