Just west of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s service and supply area lies Ice Lake — a quiet spot with a surprisingly industrious past. 

Over a century ago, this lake, along with others in the Colorado Springs–Monument area, played a key role in the region’s early economy. During harsh winters, the lakes would freeze solid, allowing workers to harvest ice using one-handed saws similar to those used by loggers. The ice was cut into large blocks and used to preserve food in early refrigerators known as “ice boxes.”

The area around Ice Lake was once home to pioneers like Aaron and Martha Blodgett — namesakes of nearby Blodgett Peak — and David Edgerton, for whom a now-vanished town near the lake was named. It was in this fledgling community that the roots of Academy District 20 took hold. Founded in 1874 by County Superintendent Robert Douglass (whose name lives on in Douglass Valley within the Academy), the district originally spanned 36 square miles. Its lone school, the Edgerton School, stood near the lake and served the growing population.

The landscape began to change dramatically in the 1950s with the establishment of the Academy. The school district expanded to 130 square miles, but the town of Edgerton, along with several neighboring settlements, gradually disappeared as the Academy grounds took shape. Today, Ice Lake remains as a quiet witness to the region’s pioneering past.