Frozen Solid (8 Photos)

Places the Ice Took Over

A lighthouse with no visible door, a fountain that built its own ice volcano, a locomotive sealed in glass. None of these were made by an artist. Wind, spray and freezing rain did most of the work, sometimes overnight, and people walked out in the morning to find their town rebuilt in ice.

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⛲ Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain — Bryant Park, New York City, USA 🇺🇸

The water is still running inside, and the ice keeps growing around it. The granite fountain in Bryant Park turns into a chandelier like this in cold snaps, and New Yorkers stop to take a photo.

💡 Fountain Fact: Since 2009 the 1912 fountain has had internal heating so it can keep running below freezing, which is why the icicles form, according to its Wikipedia entry.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsJosephine Shaw Lowell Memorial FountainCharles Adams Platt · 1912 · Bryant Park, New York CityCharles Adams PlattDedicated 1912Pink granite1It honors Josephine Shaw Lowell, a social worker and progressive reformer.Bryant Park Corporation2A heating system reportedly keeps water flowing in frigid weather, building the icicles.Time Out New York191222 MayFountain dedicated in Bryant Park · Prison Public Memory Project1934Fountain moved to its present spot in the park · Prison Public Memory Project201325 JanPhotographed frozen into icicles · Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons201922 JanReported frozen · Time Out New YorkRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

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🗼 St. Joseph North Pier Lights — St. Joseph, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

The elevated catwalk that once let keepers reach the light in bad weather now hangs with long icicles. On the St. Joseph North Pier, Lake Michigan does the decorating.

💡 Lighthouse Fact: The two range lights on the pier date from 1906–1907, and a catwalk runs from the second story of the inner lighthouse back to shore, according to Wikipedia.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSt. Joseph North Pier Inner and Outer Lights1907 · St. Joseph, MichiganBuilt 1907Range lightsRestored 20161Boats line up the inner and outer lights to steer into the harbor.Historical Marker Database2The city took over the lights in 2013 and restored them.City of St. Joseph1907Present range lights built · Chance Historic Trust20137 OctCeremony marked the transfer to the City of St. Joseph · Chance Historic Trust201410 JanOuter light and catwalk photographed coated in ice · Rachel Kramer / Wikimedia Commons2016City restoration completed · Chance Historic TrustRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Rachel Kramer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🪑 Bench on the Lakewalk — Duluth, Minnesota, USA 🇺🇸

Somewhere inside this block of ice is a park bench. Spray from Lake Superior sealed it shut on the Duluth Lakewalk in mid-April 2018, the time of year tulips are coming up in most places.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsIce-Covered Bench on the Duluth LakewalkLake Superior spray · 2018 · Duluth, MinnesotaLake SuperiorApril 2018 stormDuluth Lakewalk1The National Weather Service reported large waves of at least up to 15 feet on Lake Superior.National Weather Service2The city asked people to remain off the icy Lakewalk in Canal Park.City of Duluth201815 AprCity warns the Lakewalk in Canal Park is coated in ice · City of Duluth201817 AprBench photographed sealed in ice · Sharon Mollerus / FlickrRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Sharon Mollerus / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🔴 Grand Haven South Pier Lights — Grand Haven, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

The red building at the end of the pier is the old fog signal building, and here only its roof, upper walls and light are still red. Everything Lake Michigan could reach is under a white crust. The Grand Haven South Pier lights take this coat in hard winters, when frigid waves break over the pier and freeze where they land.

💡 Lighthouse Fact: The fog signal building dates from 1875 and was covered in corrugated metal sheeting in 1922, according to the US Coast Guard history office.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGrand Haven South Pierhead Outer Light1875 · Grand Haven, MichiganBuilt 1875Lake MichiganGrand Haven, Michigan1The outer light began as Grand Haven’s 1875 foghorn house.Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy2In 1922 it was placed on the pier’s new concrete pierhead.Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy1875Foghorn house built · Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy1905Both pier lights lit · Pure Michigan1922Foghorn house placed on the new concrete pierhead · Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy200919 JanOuter light photographed under thick ice · Wayne Silver / Wikimedia Commons20268 AugAmateur-radio activation logged at the light · ARLHS World List of LightsRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Wayne Silver / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🚂 Steam Locomotive at Postojna Station — Postojna, Slovenia 🇸🇮

This steam locomotive on display at Postojna station got a glass case nobody ordered. Freezing rain fell for days in early 2014, and every rail, pipe and branch around it came out coated in clear ice.

💡 Storm Fact: The 2014 Dinaric ice storm left 10–50 mm of ice across the region, locally more than 100 mm, and damaged almost half of Slovenia’s forests, according to its Wikipedia summary.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSteam Locomotive FS 740.121O.M. Napoli · 1914 · Postojna, SloveniaFS 740.121Built 19142-8-0 locomotive1The preserved engine is FS 740.121, a 2-8-0 steam locomotive built in 1914.Wikimedia Commons record2Reuters photographed it covered in ice at Postojna on 4 February 2014.Reuters via Yahoo News1914Built in Naples · Wikimedia Commons record1982Acquired from Italy for display at Postojna · Wikimedia Commons record201016 MayPhotographed on display at the station · Ajznponar / Wikimedia Commons20143 FebPhotographed sealed in glaze ice · Danilo Rozman / Wikimedia Commons20144 FebPhotographed covered in ice · Reuters202217 AprLogged on display at Postojna · SpotLogMore photos2010 On display at Postojna station in clear weather, 16 May 2010Photo: Ajznponar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Danilo Rozman / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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📡 Ještěd Tower — Liberec, Czech Republic 🇨🇿

Ještěd Tower is a hotel and TV transmitter on a mountaintop near Liberec, frosted white down to the railings. Ještěd already looks like a spaceship that landed; in December rime it looks like one that has been waiting a long time.

💡 Architecture Fact: Karel Hubáček’s 94-meter tower won the Perret Prize in 1969, and its shape was chosen to resist the extreme weather on the summit, according to Wikipedia.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsJeštěd TowerKarel Hubáček · 1966–1973 · Liberec, Czech RepublicKarel HubáčekPerret Prize 19691,012 m summit1A hotel, a restaurant and a TV transmitter share one tower.Ještěd: History2A laminated cladding protects it from extreme weather, and a pendulum damps the tower’s swaying.UNESCO196630 JulFoundation stone laid · Ještěd1969Perret Prize for Karel Hubáček’s design · Ještěd1973Completed and handed to the public · Ještěd202215 DecPhotographed under winter rime · Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons202628 JulRegion takes over the tower, renovation planned · TZB-infoRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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❄️ Fountain at Belvedere Palace Park — Weimar, Germany 🇩🇪

This fountain kept going through a February freeze and built its own volcano. The jet in the park of Belvedere Palace now rises out of a cone of ice, and the water falling back is what makes it grow.

💡 Palace Fact: Belvedere was built in 1724–1732 as a pleasure palace for Duke Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar and is part of the Classical Weimar World Heritage site, according to Wikipedia.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGreat Fountain (Große Fontäne), Belvedere ParkSchlosspark Belvedere · Weimar, GermanyGroße FontäneFed from the SchirmteichSchlosspark Belvedere1The fountain gets its water pressure from the Schirmteich pond.Wikipedia (German)2According to Weimar’s water utility, a long frost builds an ice cone a metre or more high.Wasserversorgung Weimar1809First phase of the fountain created · Wasserversorgung Weimar1824Second phase (1822–1824) completed · Wasserversorgung Weimar2006Fountain and plaza renovated · Wasserversorgung Weimar201216 FebPhotographed inside a tall ice cone · Jürgen Heimann / Wikimedia CommonsRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jürgen Heimann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

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🌊 Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Light — Cleveland, Ohio, USA 🇺🇸

There is a lighthouse in there. In December 2010 gale-force winds drove Lake Erie over the breakwall for days, and the West Pierhead Light froze into what looked like a melted candle. The gulls did not seem to mind.

💡 Lighthouse Fact: The light was built in 1911 and has stood empty since it was automated in 1965, according to Atlas Obscura.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsCleveland Harbor West Pierhead Light1910–1911 · Cleveland, OhioIn service 1911Lake ErieCleveland Harbor1The light was completed on 9 December 1910 and entered service on 25 March 1911.U.S. Lighthouse Society archives2The Coast Guard warned that ice may reduce or completely obscure the lighthouse and other aids to navigation.DVIDS / U.S. Coast Guard19109 DecWest pierhead light completed · U.S. Lighthouse Society archives191125 MarWest and east pierhead lights enter service · U.S. Lighthouse Society archives201014 DecPhotographed nearly hidden by ice · U.S. Coast Guard / DVIDS201029 DecPhotographed encased in ice among gulls · LeeG7144 / Wikimedia Commons20231 AugGSA announces public sale; light to remain an active aid to navigation · U.S. General Services Administration202622 AprGSA offers the lighthouse to eligible organisations · WYSU / IdeastreamMore photos2010 Mid-storm, 14 Dec 2010: waves break over the already iced towerPhoto: U.S. Coast Guard, PO2 Lauren Jorgensen / DVIDS (Public domain)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: LeeG7144 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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