Our Pick
Posted on @rawstates
John Gorrie makes ice to break a fever
1851
Apalachicola, Florida
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A doctor in a yellow fever port hung basins of ice over his patients to cool the wards, then ran out of ice, it came down by ship from New England. So he built a machine that compressed air, let it expand, and froze water on its own. He was mocked in the northern press, died broke, and holds the first American patent for mechanical refrigeration. Every cold room since is downstream of that ward.
That was 1 of the hidden places.
Location: historic site
This place has its own thread on r/rawstates
Read what people are saying about it, or add your own.