| The Morris Ice Company complex is locally significant as the oldest remaining ice manufacturing plant within Hinds County, Mississippi. The Morris Ice Company was founded on the banks of the Pearl River in Jackson in 1875. The company imported ice cut from frozen northern lakes, which was preserved in sawdust, shipped on barges down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg, and then transported in box cars to Jackson. In 1880, the Morrises built their first ice manufacturing plant, making it the second in the state to the Natchez ice plant, established only a year earlier. After the original plant burned in 1923, the Morris Company built the present building on Commerce Street in 1924. The buildings that make up the Morris Ice Company property retain their integrity of design, materials, and location, both on the exterior and the interior. The complex was listed on the National Register on 16 May 2019. The nomination was prepared by Nancy H. Bell. It is included in "Jackson Landmarks" (1982) (p. 30). |