The North Avenue Ice Palace in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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was one of the first examples of an indoor artificial

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

in North America. It was located on North Avenue between Charles Street and Lovegrove Alley and extended north to 20th Street. It was constructed by the Arctic Skating Company, managed by Gerald T. Hopkins, Jr. The ice rink was used for pleasure skating and ice sports, including early games of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

. The artificial ice was constructed by laying several layers of waterproof paper and wool. On top of this was built a 4-inch tall watertight pan, which held the water. In the pan were three and one-half miles of one and a half inch pipe which held

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

, cooled below the freezing point of water. The cold pipes then caused the ice to freeze. The construction of the rink had been opposed by local churches in the area that were concerned about the noise made by the crowds enjoying the facility. The building opened on December 26, 1894, and featured a seven-per-side game of ice hockey between a team of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

students and players from the Baltimore Athletic Club. The game ended in a 2–2 draw. This may have been the first game of ice hockey played on a sheet of artificial ice and was one of the first in the United States. The game was 60 minutes, with two halves of 30 minutes. Attendance for the opening and game was recorded as about 2,500. On February 14, 1896, the rink hosted what is considered the first intercollegiate game of ice hockey in the United States, a game between

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and Johns Hopkins. Yale, captained by Malcolm Chace, won the game 2–1, with Chace scoring both goals. The teams played six-per-side, (minus the rover) making the game an early instance of six-per-side hockey. For two seasons (1896–97 and 1897–98) the rink hosted the Baltimore Hockey League, composed of Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Athletic club, Northampton Hockey Club, Walbrook Athletic Club (in 1897–98 only) and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. The last competitive ice hockey games at the rink as reported by ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' and the ''

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'' were held on March 10, 1898, between Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, and a second game between Walbrook and the Maryland Athletic Club to decide the hockey league championship. Hopkins and Maryland tied 2–2 and Walbrook won 2–0. The league decided to not replay the tie and the championship was awarded to the University of Maryland. On March 11 and March 12, the New York City Hockey Club played exhibition games at the rink against "All-Baltimore" teams made up of players from all teams in the Baltimore league. The facility was used for other events than ice hockey and pleasure skating outside of the winter months. In April 1897, the Baltimore Kennel Association held a dog show at the facility. A programme of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

was held at the Palace in June and July 1898. In November 1898, the ice machinery was removed and the surface changed for roller skating and roller hockey. In 1899, the building was sold by trustee at auction on October 31, 1899 for $38,000. It was resold for $65,000 then sold again in 1900 to the United Milk Producer's Association of Baltimore which bought the facility to be used for manufacturing and storage. In 1932, the "Sports Centre" ice rink was built on the location of the old ice rink by the Casino Amusement Corporation. The new facility was equipped for ice hockey, basketball, wrestling and boxing; seating 2,500 for ice hockey and 4,000 for boxing and wrestling. The Sports Centre operated until 1956 when it was bought by Equitable Trust and razed to provide a parking lot for its customers.

Selection of ice hockey teams which played at the North Avenue Ice Palace

File:Johns Hopkins University hockey team, 1895–96.jpg, Johns Hopkins University hockey team in 1895–96 File:Baltimore Hockey Club.jpg, Baltimore Hockey Club in 1896–97 File:University of Maryland Hockey Team.jpg, University of Maryland hockey team in 1896–97

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , work=The Morning Herald , title=Opposing the Ice Palace , date=May 3, 1894 , page=8 8, url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vPhBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=37gMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5550%2C3138798 {{cite news , work=The Baltimore Sun , title=Artificial Ice , page=8 , date=December 27, 1894 {{cite web , title=Early Games , url=http://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/788333-early-games , website=Vintage Minnesota Hockey , first= Donald M. , last=Clark, access-date=May 15, 2017

External links

Baltimore Hockey History: First Artificial Ice
1894 establishments Defunct indoor arenas in the United States Indoor arenas in Maryland Sports venues in Maryland Demolished buildings and structures in Baltimore Sports venues demolished in 1956