We used to have one in my hometown, that wasn't far from where I lived with my parents; I could get to it easily on my bicycle (not that I ever went).

It was a large industrial building, with huge refrigeration systems on the outside - pipes, radiators, etc. Then a large building next to that. I'm not sure what all products they sold.

But I recall going with my dad one time to go get a bunch of crushed ice to make ice cream one summer. He told me to bring my winter jacket (basically a ski jacket almost). We got to the place, and I guess he knew someone that worked there (my dad worked as a maintenance and construction for the county road department - ran graders and other heavy equipment, or was out there shoveling asphalt and oil - but for some reason, he also knew a lot of people around town).

They took us into the main ice building - and it was crazy. I just remember it being very cold (I was wearing jeans, shoes, a t-shirt and my jacket), and there were workers in heavy winter garb moving around and handling large blocks of ice - refrigerator sized! We got a small tour (very brief - it was just way too cold in there!), then we left to the office, they brought out a few large bags of crushed ice, my dad paid and we left.

From what I recall, we only used a portion of the ice; the rest went into our chest freezer (probably to protect the meat we stored in there from power outages, which happened occasionally during the summer).