The story of ice manufacturing in Alabama is the story of James Franklin Rushton and his father, William James Rushton.
In 1881, the elder Rushton purchased an ice machine which he set up in Birmingham. The city’s rapid growth in the late 1880s provided a ready market for Rushton ice, and the business prospered. The younger Rushton, known familiarly as Frank, began work in the family ice factory as an oiler in the engine room. Eventually, he worked in every department and became an expert in all facets of the business, and by the turn of the century, he was his father’s chief assistant. Eight ice plants were constructed in the Birmingham area. Through their retail sales outlet, the City Ice and Delivery Company, the Rushtons arranged efficient delivery of their ice to customers. Together father and son developed the business into one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the south. Frank served several years as a vice-president of the National Association of Ice Industries. After his father’s death, Rushton further expanded the family business by establishing the Franklin Coal Mining Company and the National Coal and Coke Company. Frank Rushton is also remembered for his public service. His most notable public work was his leadership of bond drives during World War I. His colleagues at his funeral observed of him, “no man of his generation was more closely identified with all that was best in Birmingham.”
