Since our beginnings in 1915, Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Company has worked on cold storage and related fields. Today we provide dry storage, freezer storage, and refrigerated storage in Albert Lea, MN, at high industry standards in warehouses with fully-equipped, state-of-the-art facilities. Though MFWC has a long history, it starts much later in the story of the history of refrigerated storage.
The science of refrigerated storage took many twists and turns to get to where it is today. The refrigeration systems we take for granted, both large and small-scale, took almost 200 years to fully develop into the safe and reliable devices we now count on.
One of the first pioneers in commercial refrigeration science was inventor and scientist John Gorrie. Gorrie developed a system of water refrigeration for ice production in 1842, nearly a century after the first interests in artificial refrigeration sparked new research ideas for William Cullen in 1755. While Gorrie’s designs were not successful for commercial purposes, his ideas regenerated interest in artificial refrigeration.
A key figure in the development of commercial refrigeration was French inventor Ferdinand Carre. During the Civil War, Carre created a machine modeled after Gorrie’s. Carre’s product, however, was smaller, simpler, and more suitable for market use. His system took hold, and by 1865, three machines were being commercially used in New Orleans, LA.
In 1867, Andrew Muhl continued the development of artificial refrigeration in San Antonio, TX. In 1873, Columbus Iron Works contracted the patent for Muhl’s ice-making machine, a company that would later be owned by W.C. Bradley Co., the first producers of commercial refrigeration in America.
Through the last decades of the 1800s, commercial refrigeration took hold in shipping and rail industries for the transportation of perishable goods. The rising population of the western world demanded more meats, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. This demand heavily supplied the continued development of the modern day commercial refrigeration systems.
In 1900, meat packing warehouse in Chicago, IL adopted ammonia-cycle refrigeration methods similar to many used today. By 1914, most large warehouse companies across the country used ammonia-cycle refrigeration.
In the mid-1900s, artificial refrigeration was being installed on trucks and other transport vehicles, and the systems of warehouse refrigeration became accepted in the global industry.
Though there would still be a long road of continued development and perfection of artificial refrigeration systems, this research would exponentially increase in speed and effectiveness, using ammonia-cycle refrigeration as a foundation.
Because of the rich history and hard-working people involved in the development of artificial refrigeration systems, we’re able to provide quality cold storage today. For more information about our freezer, dry, and refrigerated storage in Albert Lea, MN, contact Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Company at (844) 373-1477 today.