The History Behind Hopkins Icehouse

Hopkins Icehouse in downtown Texarkana has some great live music lined up for the weekend.

Friday night The Stoop Kids are scheduled to take the stage and Saturday night is Tanner Lewis Band.

Here is a little history of Hopkin's Icehouse:

This building was built in early 1900s. Legend has it that it was a Ford dealership and you are sitting in the “showroom.”  Roy D Hopkins Feed & Seed began business here Jan 2, 1936 and closed in 2007, that’s when George Dodson & David Jones purchased the property. For 18 months at nights and on weekends the proprietors worked to build Hopkins Icehouse as you see it.

Almost 100 percent of the work was performed by George and Dave, from cutting the concrete then jack hammering it out, scraping and painting the ceiling, hanging the sheetrock then painting it, building the walk in cooler, bar and kitchen. Original items are the tin ceiling, transoms, doors, floors and the glass windows.

The brick wall on the east side is original and was covered with plaster, which had to be removed with sledge hammers. The term “icehouse” dates back to the day when families purchased blocks of ice for their “ice box.” These early ice boxes were small and the woman of the house would not allow the men to keep their beer in them. So, the men would keep their beer at the icehouses down by the railroad tracks (this is how ice was transported).  This is where they would congregate after work and enjoy a cold beer.

(Via Facebook.)