Arizona’s steepest stairways were once an iceman’s daily route – you can still climb them

Bisbee’s Icemen and Their 150-Step Mountain Climbs

Before fridges, Bisbee’s icemen hauled blocks up to 100 pounds up steep steps in the Arizona heat.

They started at 4 AM each day, gripping ice with metal tongs and padding their shoulders against the cold drip.

The stairways began as dirt paths, later became wooden steps, and finally turned into concrete stairs in the 1930s.

Some climbs had over 150 steps to reach homes stacked on canyon walls. Families put numbered cards in windows to show how much ice they needed.

The town honors this tough job today with the annual Ironman Ice Competition, where modern folks climb the same historic stairways that kept a mining town fed.

Copper Town Houses Clung to Canyon Walls

Miners found copper in Arizona’s Mule Mountains in 1877, and Bisbee quickly grew to 23,000 people by the early 1900s.

With hardly any flat land around, folks built homes right on the steep canyon walls. Families put houses wherever they could find space, making a town that went straight up the mountainsides.

The first paths to these cliff homes were just dirt trails worn down by mules carrying mining gear and household stuff up from the valley.

Winter Workers Cut Blocks from Frozen Northern Lakes

Ice workers walked onto frozen lakes when ice got 8-12 inches thick.

Teams used horses to mark grid patterns before cutting blocks with big handsaws. Men pushed ice chunks toward shore with long poles, then loaded them onto sleds.

This winter job kept thousands busy across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, as workers rushed to gather enough ice before spring came.

Sawdust Kept Summer Ice from Melting Away

Big buildings called ice houses stored the frozen blocks year-round. Workers stacked ice in layers with thick sawdust between each block.

This natural padding trapped air that slowed melting, even in hot weather. A good ice house kept ice frozen for months through summer.

The biggest companies stored thousands of tons, making sure towns without natural ice had steady supplies all year.

Trains Hauled Frozen Cargo to Arizona Desert

Railroads moved ice to desert towns in special cars with double walls filled with sawdust padding.

The trip to mining towns like Bisbee took several days while blocks slowly melted. Summer heat in Arizona often hit 90 degrees or higher, making ice very valuable.

Mining towns paid top dollar for this cooling resource that made desert life easier and kept food fresh.

Families Stored Perishables in Wooden Cooling Boxes

Most Bisbee homes used wooden iceboxes lined with zinc or tin by the 1890s. These boxes had a top space for a big ice block that cooled food stored below.

Cork or sawdust between double wooden walls helped keep things cold. A pan at the bottom caught dripping water that needed emptying every day.

These boxes kept food fresh for several days, but families needed regular ice deliveries.

The Day Started at 4 AM for Hardworking Icemen

Icemen loaded their wagons before sunrise and hit the road by 4:00 am. They worked seven days a week, all year long.

Each man handled hundreds of blocks daily, weighing 25 to 100 pounds each. Many ice delivery men grew huge shoulder and arm muscles from years of heavy lifting

Routes stayed the same, with icemen visiting the same customers daily since ice melted fast in Arizona heat.

Metal Tongs Gripped Slippery Cargo Up Wooden Ladders

Early Bisbee stairs looked more like wooden ladders going straight up canyon walls.

Icemen carried blocks using large metal tongs over their shoulders, with leather or burlap padding to protect from cold and drips.

Some homes sat more than 150 steps above street level, needing amazing strength to reach. The wooden steps often got slick from water dripping off melting ice, making the climb dangerous in summer heat.

Window Cards Told Icemen How Much to Bring

Families put numbered cards in their windows showing how many pounds of ice they needed that day.

Cards usually showed 25, 50, 75, or 100 to mark block size. The iceman became a regular visitor, often allowed to enter homes when nobody was there.

Icemen came inside homes to chip blocks to fit iceboxes properly. Many Bisbee families needed daily deliveries since ice melted within 24-48 hours during hot months.

Government Workers Poured Concrete Paths During Depression

The Works Progress Administration replaced many wooden stairs with concrete during the 1930s as part of Depression-era public works projects.

WPA stamps still show in the concrete throughout Bisbee today. The new stairs lasted longer but still went straight up mountainsides at steep angles.

Many Bisbee homes still had no road access. Icemen kept making their daily climbs on these better pathways, still carrying heavy loads on their shoulders.

Electric Cooling Pushed Ice Delivery into History

Only about 8% of American homes owned electric refrigerators by 1930. Prices dropped during the Great Depression as manufacturers competed for fewer customers.

By 1940, over half of US households had refrigerators instead of iceboxes.

The late 1940s saw ice delivery fade away in most communities as refrigerators became standard household appliances.

Bisbee’s unique geography meant some remote homes continued receiving ice deliveries into the early 1950s, longer than most American towns.

Modern Contestants Race Up 155 Steps with Ice Blocks

Bisbee created the Ironman Ice Competition in the 1990s to honor the town’s ice delivery history. Participants carry 10-pound ice blocks up 155 stairs using authentic antique tongs.

The event forms part of the annual Bisbee 1000 stair climb race held each October. Hundreds of competitors tackle the course that follows the same routes icemen walked daily for decades.

Few modern participants manage the climb without stopping, showing how physically demanding the original job truly was.

Visiting Old Bisbee Stairways, Arizona

You can explore Bisbee’s public stairways for free year-round, where ice delivery men once carried 25-100 pound blocks up steep steps to mountainside homes.

The 4.5-mile loop has 1,034 stairs with 1,175 feet of elevation change. Start at the Iron Man statue on Tombstone Canyon and Quality Hill Road.

Each October brings the Bisbee 1000 stair race and Ironman Ice Competition. Visit the Mining & Historical Museum at 5 Copper Queen Plaza for $10 admission.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• How a failed portrait session birthed an iconic New York landmark
• Before Mark Twain, this reluctant writer made American novels famous across the globe
• Why Rikers inmates wore hazmat suits to bury one baby in 1985