Truitt Ice House and power plant added to Rehoboth diorama
The Willard S. Truitt Ice House and Power Plant have now been mounted on Paul Lovett’s diorama of 1910 Rehoboth Avenue.
The plant was on Wilmington Avenue just east of First Street and was accessible by railroad track on the Laurel Street spur. The ice house was built first, completed in 1901. Truitt built the ice house with John A. Lingo as a partner. From that plant, ice was delivered by horse-drawn carriage to ice boxes on cottage porches throughout Rehoboth.
The power plant, completed in 1909, surrounded the original ice house. There is only one available photograph, taken c. 1920, that shows the building itself. Several photographs, however, taken from different vantage points about the city, confirm the existence of the smoke stack.
Truitt installed the power grid for the city between 1912 and 1920, transitioning Rehoboth’s streetlights to electricity from acetylene gas. Until then, a lamplighter had to light each streetlamp every evening. Both locals and visitors appreciated the ice, and the electric power. They complained, however, about the noise, dust, and industrial activity that the plant generated.
The n-scale model of the structure, now positioned on the diorama, was built to specifications based on the 1922 Sanborn Insurance map, which provided considerable detail. On the diorama, the smokestack smokes, the boiler smolders, and the interior of the plant is lit. The scene includes a chute from which blocks of ice descend onto horse-drawn carriages, coal is being shoveled from a gondola railcar, and the refrigerated boxcar is being packed with ice.
Beau (Jason) Hill, who as a young man lived in the ice house portion of the structure with his grandmother Blanche Truitt, sponsored the ice house/power plant model for the diorama. The ice house portion was converted to residential use sometime after a new ice house was built in 1926 near the canal. The 1926 ice house building now serves as the Rehoboth Beach Museum.
The new model joins more than 30 other buildings already positioned on the diorama. Each model replicates structures that existed during railroad-era Rehoboth. The diorama is a multi-year project to re-create Rehoboth Avenue during the railroad era. It will eventually show the area extending to the west side of the canal. The diorama is on display in the Rehoboth Beach Main Street Building near Grove Park and can be seen by appointment.
To schedule a viewing, contact Paul Lovett at paul@pdlovett.com or call 302-893-9391. To learn about the project, go to goldenageofrehoboth.com.
