Birthplace of Commercial Ice Cream

The Heritage Rail Trail you are crossing runs through the birthplace of commercial ice cream in America. In eighteen fifty-one, a Baltimore merchant named C. Jacob Fussell found himself with a problem: York County dairy farmers were producing far more milk and cream than he could sell. His solution was to build a factory nearby and produce ice cream on a commercial scale.

Before Fussell, ice cream was made in small batches by confectioners for wealthy customers. Fussell standardized production and, using the Northern Central Railroad that ran right through here, shipped his product down to the Baltimore market in quantity. After he moved his main operations south, local manufacturers in York County continued the trade for years. That single factory decision transformed ice cream from a luxury into an everyday American pleasure.