Ice Machine Museum

Lil Dude Troll at the John Gorrie Ice Machine Museum

An ice machine is something we take for granted every day - we fill up our drink glasses at every fast food place, we buy ice by the pound at convenience stores to fill up our coolers, we get ice for our drinks in hotel rooms and we skate on ice in summer heat. But it wasn't always so. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until relatively recently that a way to make ice on demand was invented. Who came up with such a magical process?


John Gorrie, a young physician in 1851, was concerned for his yellow fever patients who suffered in the Apalachicola, Florida heat where he lived and had his medical practice. He studied and thought and experimented until he finally came up with a way to keep their rooms cool. Over time, he became a pioneer in the field of air conditioning and devised a machine to make ice. His was the first patent issued for mechanical refrigeration.

He quit his medical practice to dedicate himself to running his new venture, a company which built his ice making and air conditioning machines. His partner, the salesman of the two, died and Gorrie's company failed. Humiliated by criticism, financially broke and his health ruined from working 20 hours a day, he died in seclusion in 1855 and the idea of air conditioning faded away for another 50 years.

At 46 Sixth Street in Apalachicola is the John Gorrie Museum commemorating the man considered the father of refrigeration, his machine, and the history of ice making machines in general.

Dr. John Gorrie Historical Plaque

Across the street from the museum is Dr. Gorrie's grave