Charleston's Third Ice Age: The Big Chill

The technology behind the creation of artificial ice, pioneered by a physician from South Carolina in the mid-nineteenth century, spawned new concepts of personal comfort and health in the second quarter of the twentieth century. Demand for artificially-chilled air, a refreshing by-product of refrigeration, sparked the dawn of Charleston’s third “Ice Age” during the era of Prohibition, but the addition of mechanical dehumidification in the mid-1930s transformed the community forever. The subsequent proliferation of air conditioning rendered Lowcountry summers more bearable and attracted a stream of tourists and new residents.

Today’s program represents the extension and conclusion of a three-part series exploring the local perspective of a global phenomenon that forms an important component of modern life. As I described in Episode No. 49, Charleston’s first “Ice Age” commenced in 1798, when local entrepreneurs first began importing frozen water from New England on a commercial scale. The refreshing benefits of possessing ice during torrid summer weather motivated a number of individuals to explore the possibility of producing ice through artificial means. While the American physician John Gorrie (1803–1855) is widely recognized as the pioneering inventor of artificial refrigeration, others perfected and marketed the technology after Dr. Gorrie’s early death. The advent of machinery capable of producing mass quantities of ice in a warm environment, which I described in Episode No. 238, triggered a second “Ice Age” that transformed frozen water into a ubiquitous commodity.

Because Charleston’s third “Ice Age” represents the culmination of the goals Dr. Gorrie pursued in the 1840s, I’d like to hold the focus on him for a moment and explore his potential roots in the Palmetto City. In the years since John Gorrie’s death in Apalachicola, Florida, in 1855, a number of writers have produced a large body of literature devoted to the biography of a man generally regarded as the father of artificial refrigeration and air conditioning. None of this material provides any definitive, verifiable information about his parents or early life, but nearly all of it points to his possible nativity in Charleston in or around 1803. Is it possible to confirm this long-standing supposition?

During the early nineteenth century, South Carolina hosted several families that we might identify as possible relations of Dr. John Gorrie. The largest body of candidates, located in Newberry County, was a cluster of families identified by various spellings of the surname Gorrie. These families appear to have been descended from a Gore/Goree family that migrated in the middle of the eighteenth century from Virginia to the backcountry of colonial South Carolina. At least two men named John Goree, and several other men with similar surnames, served in the American Revolution and later received state compensation for services rendered. Several members of this family cluster wrote wills that articulate the names of wives, children, and extended relations. These people do not appear to be the ancestors of the famous physician, however. The Gorrees of Newberry District were poor and borderline illiterate, they farmed relatively small tracts of land, owned a handful of enslaved people, and were disconnected from the state’s commercial and cultural centers in Charleston and Columbia.

Similarly, there was a small cluster of people with the surname Goree in rural Horry County, to the northeast of Charleston, planting and residing on land near the Waccamaw River in the early nineteenth century. Like their counterparts in Newberry, however, these Horry Gorrees appear to have been disconnected from Charleston and from the learned professions.[1] Alternatively, there was a small cluster of people in Charleston County in the early nineteenth century bearing surnames very similar to that of the famous refrigerating physician. David Gorrie, for example, was a poor White shopkeeper who died in or near the Palmetto City in 1821. His value-less estate was administered by one William Gorrie, another poor White shopkeeper who was at least briefly present in the area during the early 1820s.[2] Furthermore, on occasions between 1818 and 1830, the names Hugh, James, John, and Samuel Gorrie appear in periodic newspaper lists of letters unclaimed at the post office in Charleston. Owing to a paucity of extant municipal records from this era, however, it is presently impossible to determine how or if these people might have been related to Dr. John Gorrie.

Some published biographies of the refrigerating physician include conjecture that he was the son of a Scottish sea captain, but evidence supporting that theory is lacking. Around the turn of the nineteenth century, the City of Charleston hosted several families with the Scots surname “Corrie,” which was occasionally misspelled in local newspapers with an initial “G.” Despite the similarities in spelling and pronunciation, I doubt that Dr. John Gorrie was related to the Corries of Scots ancestry. Furthermore, “Gorey” is also a family name in Ireland, and a place name in County Wexford, but there is no evidence that the physician who pioneered mechanical refrigeration was descended from one of the many Irish family that settled in South Carolina.

Finally, there was a French family named “Gouré” (pronounced “Gor-AY” or “Gor-EE”) residing in Charleston during the early years of the nineteenth century. Details of their emigration to South Carolina have not yet been found, but they were likely among the thousands of refugees who fled from the French island colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in the 1790s and early 1800s. Several hundred of those exiles, including enslaved people and free people of mixed ancestry, settled in Charleston around the turn of the nineteenth century and enlivened the city’s commercial and cultural scene. Some had formerly been planters and minor aristocrats, so-called grands blancs, while others were working-class petits blancs and gens de couleur, but the upheavals of both the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution leveled all of them to poor refugees in port communities like Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Scores of these Francophone Catholics lived in Charleston for decades without leaving much trace of their existence, a fact that complicates modern efforts to reconstruct the contours of their lives.[3] Among this obscure Carolina community was a poor merchant named André Gouré who died in Charleston in December 1817 and was buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Hasell Street.[4] His widow, Catharine Victorie Sophie Gouré, died in suburban Paris in December 1819 at the age of thirty-eight, leaving behind “an unhappy father and two inconsolable sons” in South Carolina.[5] One of these unnamed sons might have been a teenager named Jean Gouré who became known as John Gorrie.

If John Gorrie lived in Charleston during his youth, then his legal guardian might have sent him to the state capital, Columbia, to serve an apprenticeship during his teenage years. Although he reached the legal age of adulthood around 1824, he did not attend the Medical College of South Carolina, which opened in Charleston in the autumn of that same year.[6] Instead, he spent two years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of the State of New York. When he received an M.D. degree from that institution in January 1827, he was identified as having come from Columbia, South Carolina.[7] When his graduate thesis was published in a New York journal in September 1828, he was described as a physician working in Abbeville, South Carolina, near the Georgia border.[8] In the United States Census of 1850, the first census to specify the place of nativity of all free persons, Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola, Florida, identified himself as a 44-year-old native of South Carolina.[9]

While living in northwestern Florida in the 1840s, Dr. Gorrie became obsessed with efforts to cool warm air through mechanical means. His primary goal was not to produce artificial ice, but rather to treat yellow fever and other maladies associated with hot climates. He believed that patients laboring under high fevers, especially those in subtropical zones like the South Carolina Lowcountry and the Florida Panhandle, stood a better chance of recovery if treated within a cool environment. After designing and patenting an apparatus to lower the ambient temperature of a confined space, the by-product of his achievement was the production of a small quantity of ice. Gorrie died before he was able to capitalize on his invention, and the subsequent generation of engineers who refined and expanded his pioneering work focused on ice production rather than ambient cooling. Merchants involved in the existing commerce of natural ice quickly embraced the concept of artificial ice, and their investments stoked the creation of machinery capable of producing larger and larger quantities of ice on demand.

In contrast to John Gorrie’s quest to cool feverish patients, the evolving science of mechanical refrigeration sparked a revolution in the food industry during the second half of the nineteenth century. Significant monetary investments in the emerging technology focused on the production of large volumes of ice used to prolong the shelf-life of fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, and various alcoholic beverages. As artificially-produced ice became more readily available, the transportation and storage of perishable commodities became more practical and profitable. In response to the advent of machines capable of cooling the interior of a large railroad car or the hull of a ship, the Charleston Daily News predicted in 1871 that “it is probably a mere question of time whether some invention of this character will not be generally employed in all Southern communities—nay, whether our very houses will not be cooled to an extent that will assuage fevered brows, relieve pendant shirt collars, and sorely distress mosquitoes.”[10]

As I described in an earlier program, Charleston second “Ice Age” kicked into high gear in 1888 with the arrival of ice-making machines that triggered an explosion of refrigerated commerce and new domestic habits in South Carolina. Ships carrying natural ice from New England ceased to call at the port of Charleston in 1901, at which time local plants provided a robust supply of manufactured ice to customers across the Lowcountry. The proliferation of artificial refrigeration fueled a growing appetite for the chilled beverages and chilled food preservation that we now take for granted. Thanks to the creation of a local electrical grid at the close of the nineteenth century, Charlestonians could sip chilled beer from St. Louis and eat Omaha steaks under the cooling breeze of an electric fan, but they could not escape the ubiquitous humidity of a hot summer’s day.

The modern concept of air conditioning evolved during the early decades of the twentieth century. When automobiles, aeroplanes, and moving picture shows were still exciting novelties, newspapers and magazines predicted that interior spaces around the world would soon be cooled by mechanical means. No longer would people crowded in stuffy churches, theaters, offices, and factories cool themselves with hand-held fans. But there were two competing approaches to the problem. A patent awarded to Willis Carrier in 1906 used chilled coils—just like those found in the production of artificial ice—to cool the air until it released excess moisture. Carrier’s innovative design controlled both the temperature and the humidity, but it was expensive and required the installation of ductwork.[11] A cheaper and more popular alternative was simply to point electric fans at blocks of ice and blow the chilled air within a confined space. For more than twenty years after the date of Carrier’s patent, most homes and public venues opted for the cheapest and most expedient solution to the summertime blues.

In the spring of 1913, for example, Charleston’s Victoria Theatre on Society Street became the first local theater to install a “cooling plant” that included several “huge” fans blowing air over blocks of ice and a massive exhaust fan in the domed ceiling.[12] This elaborate apparatus provided a marketable measure of comfort not found in other local venues, but it also introduced undesirable complications. The constant noise of the fans competed with the live music accompanying the silent movies, and the humidity wafting from the melting ice rendered customers damp and uncomfortable.

Other local theaters soon followed the Victoria with similar cooling plants using numerous fans and blocks of ice, which were augmented by a general policy of keeping open all available doors and windows.[13] Audiences tolerated such conditions during the late 1910s and the early 1920s because there was no better alternative. When the sumptuous Gloria Theater opened at 331 King Street in August 1927 (now called the Sottile Theatre), for example, the large audience enjoyed a modicum of comfort from a noisy cooling system that consisted of four ceiling fans, each ten-feet across and each powered by a ten-horsepower motor. Ice was apparently out of the picture by that time, while the management boasted that the use of variable-speed controls meant “that any quantity of fresh air can be blown in or drawn out of the building.”[14]

The combination of large fans and reservoirs of ice provided some relief to those crowded within interior spaces, but such apparatus did not fulfil the goal of John Gorrie’s original dream. The lingering volume of water suspended in the air, manifest as measurable humidity, was a persistent source of discomfort during sultry summers days and nights. That predicament began to change in the mid-1920s, however, as the mass production of Carrier-type machinery rendered air conditioning cheaper and more efficient.

In the summer of 1926, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT noted that large theaters and factories across the nation were installing machinery that cooled and dehumidified the air, rendering customers and workers both happier and healthier. In the future, the professor predicted, private homes across the nation would soon include similar cooling plants that would revolutionize domestic life.[15] A similar essay published in 1928 explained the rise of a phenomenon called “artificial weather.” By installing Carrier-type equipment that chilled and “washed” the air before circulating it within a confined space, the proprietors of theaters, factories, hotels and private homes could control the temperature and humidity to suit their preferences year-round. The technology and market for such equipment already existed; it was simply a matter of time before “artificial weather” became a practical reality across the United States and beyond.

The proliferation of modern air conditioning, or “climate control,” equipment, like most emerging technologies, started at the higher end of the commercial market and slowly trickled down to the average consumer. Ducted air-conditioning systems were installed within the United States Capitol Building in 1929, for example, first in the chamber of the House of Representatives and then the Senate Chamber. President Herbert Hoover was the first to enjoy air conditioning in the renovated West Wing of the White House in 1930.[16]

Meanwhile in Charleston, the adoption of modern air conditioning was retarded by the abundance of ice, the total production of which within the city exceeded 600 tons per day at the beginning of the 1920s. The conglomeration of a corporate entity known as the Southern Ice Company in late 1924 represented the moment of peak ice in the Charleston area, after which a discernable devolution commenced. The domestic use of ice in the Lowcountry and all points beyond declined rapidly between the 1920s and the 1950s, for a variety of reasons. The same technology used to manufacture blocks of ice was adapted to create refrigerated dry air, which could be used to cool confined spaces such as domestic refrigerators, delivery trucks, railroad cars, and ships. Ice was heavy, cumbersome, and perishable. Refrigerated air, not frozen water, was the wave of the future during the second quarter of the twentieth century.

The rising popularity of conditioned air was not lost on the officers and members of the Southern Ice Exchange, a regional trade body that gathered in Charleston for a convention in 1931. They dedicated their proceedings to the memory of Dr. John Gorrie, believed to be a native of the Palmetto City, whose pioneering efforts to cool his patients inspired the creation of a multi-million-dollar industry in less than a century.[17] In the years that followed the regional ice convention, Charleston and other Southern cities witnessed a series of improvements that confirmed the advent of a new “Ice Age.”

Iceless air-conditioning systems, complete with ductwork and closed windows, were installed in numerous factories, theaters, restaurants, and commercial spaces across the nation during the early 1930s. In June 1933, the coffee shop in the lobby of the Francis Marion Hotel became the first eatery in Charleston equipped with a modern climate-control system.[18] The local newspapers of 1934 predicted that home air-conditioning units would soon be available for retail purchase. The bulky units were first advertised for sale in Charleston in 1935, at which time Southern Railway began introducing air-conditioned passenger trains calling at the Palmetto City.[19] Also in the summer of 1935, automotive engineers in Detroit predicted that air conditioning would become an option in cars of the near future. The technical challenges were negligible, said industry experts, but the “greatest difficulty” was “persuading the motorist to operate a vehicle with tightly closed windows in sultry weather.”[20]

The installation of commercial and domestic air conditioning systems blossomed into a regular stream of business in urban Charleston in 1936. That spring, Woolworth’s department store at 259 King Street bought the neighboring structure, No. 257, and completely remodeled the combined facilities into a modern, air-conditioned business.[21] In July 1936, the Atlantic Coast Railroad announced the debut of air-conditioned trains for both White and Black customers.[22] In the spring of 1937, the Pastime Amusement Company, controlled by the Sottile family, modernized the air conditioning systems in the Victory (formerly Victoria), Majestic, Gloria, and Garden theaters.[23] In July 1937, Condon’s on King Street became the first air-conditioned department store in South Carolina.[24] The legislative chambers of the State House in Columbia were fitted with air conditioning in the autumn of 1937, while Charleston’s Dock Street Theatre opened that November with a slightly antiquated air-conditioning system designed several years earlier.[25] A major renovation of Charleston’s City Hall in 1939 included the installation of a state-of-the-art heating and air-conditioning system.

The home delivery of ice blocks declined sharply after World War II as a booming post-war economy spurred a new spirit of consumerism. Electric refrigerators, which had existed for decades, quickly replaced the remaining iceboxes in households across America. The business of manufacturing ice never disappeared, but it shrank and evolved with the times. To cool interior spaces, humidity-controlled air conditioning continued to trickle down to the masses. In the summer of 1949, the Fort Sumter Hotel at the extreme south end of King Street installed an air-conditioning system for the lobby and ballroom, but did not begin to cool some of the individual rooms until 1953.[26] The expense of such an undertaking was simply too steep at the time. In the spring of 1952, for example, the Francis Marion Hotel at the corner of King and Calhoun Streets spent $300,000 to install equipment to condition the building’s entire interior. The owners thereafter proudly promoted the popular hotel as “Charleston’s only 100% air-conditioned hotel.”[27]

The proliferation of air conditioning within homes, automobiles, businesses, churches, and public spaces continued through the second half of the twentieth century to a point of virtual saturation at the turn of the twenty-first century. For those among us who have never lived through a South Carolina summer without air conditioning, it might be difficult to imagine life without the cooling and dehumidifying luxury that we now take for granted. In retrospect, however, it’s worth reflecting on the social changes wrought by the technology of climate control.

As I’ve mentioned in previous programs, the advent of mechanical refrigeration transformed the food industry, our palettes, and our relationship with food in general. Many Charlestonians of the distant past, for example, ate their principal meal of the day in the early afternoon, followed by a short siesta. Refrigeration and air condition doomed the three-o’clock dinner, however, and disrupted other temporal traditions. Generations of affluent Charlestonians once fled to cooler climes to the north and west for the duration of the warm months, while the common folk sweltered at home. The availability of artificial ice and artificial cooling brought comfort to the masses, however, and nearly obliterated the seasonal evacuation of the Palmetto City. The success of the Spoleto Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, and the concept of summer tourism in general would not have been possible without air conditioning. How many natives of the cooler northern regions of the United States would have moved to the South Carolina Lowcountry without the benefit of air conditioning? As a result of their steady influx, the production, installation, and maintenance of climate-control equipment is now a major form of commerce in the Charleston-metro area, as it is in other urban centers in warm areas around the world.

Besides cooling interior spaces and reshaping the world around us, the rise of modern air conditioning also triggered profound changes in the way we humans think about our bodies. In the distant past, people living in warm climates sweat profusely and rarely bathed. The natural odors they produced in such conditions identified humans as part of the larger animal kingdom. The advance of climate-control technology, combined with easy access to warm, clean water, made twentieth-century Americans increasingly consciousness of body odors and inspired new ideals of personal cleanliness. Numerous advertisements for air conditioning in the mid-twentieth century promoted the health benefits of dry, cool air over the potential dangers of damp summer air. Through technological innovation, humankind inaugurated a brave new hermetically-sealed world with the proliferation of climate-controlled spaces.

While these physiological arguments have some scientific merit, they also inspired a marketing campaign with enduring power. Anything that helped one achieve a state of physical coolness became synonymous with luxury, comfort, cleanliness, and good health. Charleston advertisements from the 1930s, for example, testify to the popularity of air-conditioned hats (i.e., straw hats), air-conditioned shoes (i.e., sandals and open-toe pumps), and air-conditioned suits (i.e., woven textiles containing millions of tiny “vents”). To be cool, in short, was deemed a very good thing. For young people living in sultry climates like Charleston, the word “cool” itself became a buzz-word for any object, person, action, or situation that contributed to a feeling of happiness.

Doctor John Gorrie spent most of his life in the subtropical South, but he did not live long enough to enjoy the benefits of his air-chilling invention. Were it possible to transport his spirit through time to modern Charleston, I’d be delighted to hear his impression of the place during the busy summer season. I think he’d agree that it’s now pretty cool.

NEXT: Anson’s Landing to Gadsden’s Wharf: A Brief History
PREVIOUSLY: Sullivan's Island: Property of the Crown and State, 1663–1953
See more from Charleston Time Machine