Millville Fourth of July festivities spotlight restored 1886 ice wagon

City officials canceled Millville’s daytime Fourth of July parade after reviewing participation and public safety requirements, but the restored 1886 Whitaker Ice Wagon will appear in the evening celebration at Tim Shannon Sports Complex. The evening celebration is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 2 N. Sharp Street, behind Lakeside Middle School.

The parade was set to begin at 4 p.m. at the Millville Public Library, travel up High Street and end near Lakeside Middle School, with fireworks around 9 p.m.

The Whitaker Ice Wagon was used until 1945, when trucks began overtaking ice deliveries, and it traces back to the Whitaker Ice House and plant, which stood adjacent to the railroad tracks near the present-day Millville Rite Aid and shipped ice by rail and boat. The wagon’s body has been extensively restored through donations from members and friends, and a protective shed was built to preserve it. The society is also raising money for a permanent home for the artifact after the city sold the 15th Street warehouse where it had been stored temporarily in early 2025.

Franklyn Pangburn, a 93-year-old Korean War veteran, remembers riding on the ice wagon as a child with his father and sometimes his uncle, and he said his grandfather also worked at the Whitaker plant. He will escort the wagon in the parade lineup.

The Millville Historical Society, incorporated in 1927 and headquartered at the 1857 Millville Bank at 200 E. Main Street, serves as an archives repository and caretaker for major local landmarks, including the Baracha Dunn House and the Wood Mansion House. Its calendar points to a September completion celebration tied to its Ice Cream Social.