Then & Now: The Ice House Locker for Families, Farmers and Businessmen

Update:

If I didn't know the answer, I'd have guessed it was a building to store ice. But, Eve and Adam were a lot closer to the truth. 

While home refrigerators were around in the 20's, they cost about twice as much as a car, so weren't found in many homes. But, electric compressor refrigeration on a larger scale was cost effective and food locker plants sprouted up in many small towns where families, farmers or local businessmen could rent a locker for cold storage of meat and produce. Locker plants had pull out drawers usually about six cubic feet in size. They were very popular from about 1936 to 1950, principally in rural farming communities. 

The Fair Oaks “Ice House” was built in 1943 as a locker plant and probably served that function for the town into the 1950's when mass produced home refrigerator-freezers became widely affordable. There is a listing in the 1944 Fair Oaks telephone directory for John Frei Domestic and Commercial Electric Refrigeration and I assume that's the company that owned the building. Sorry we don't have any old photos of the building, but it probably looked much the same on the outside as it does today. 

Before the Ice House was built, there was a blacksmith shop on the property.

Original post:

This concrete block building on Sacramento Street across from is known by the locals as "The Ice House." 

It's been many different colors and housed businesses as varied as antique shops and a karate studio. Does anyone know its original function? And, for bonus points, what was there before this building?

For even more, be sure to check out the Fair Oaks Historical Society's website.