Springbrook Ice & Fuel

It was 1918 and The War was over. A new automobile cost 500 dollars, a gallon of milk was 55 cents, and a dollar would fill your gas tank. Robert L. Ervin was a Colby College graduate, coach, and business owner. He did not have to look far to see the sound commercial potential in the Kennebec River which had become the source of frozen goldfor entrepreneurs shipping ice all over the world. Ervin's new business became Spring Brook Ice Company taken from the name of the crystal clear brook on Drummond Avenue that he dammed and harvested every winter with his men. Blocks of ice were cut with heavily toothed saws and carried by conveyor belt into the massive icehouse to be covered with straw and sawdust. With a strong economy and growing commerce, the business expanded to the Spring Brook Ice and Fuel Company in 1922. Nine years later, the business moved to its current home on 12 Sanger Avenue. While coal and ice continued to be business staples into the 1950s, heating and range oil became the fuels of choice as homes and businesses switched to the more convenient liquid alternative. Supply for his customers was a continuing concern and in 1960, Mr. Ervin erected two large storage tanks on the site to insure that oil would always be available. A generous businessman and community leader, R. L. Ervin operated the business diligently until his death in 1962 when his wife, Caroline, became the company president. Always charitable, they cared greatly for their employees, building them homes in a nearby residential development. With Caroline's death in 1968, in spite of his considerable medical responsibilities, their son and local pediatrician Edmund N. Ervin, assumed leadership of the business. Together with Mr. Michaud, he directed the business to its current standing. Our staff is professionally trained and certified to help you select and maintain HVAC systems that provide you with the highest possible efficiency while staying within your budget.