This summer, when you switch on your A/C or relax with a glass of iced tea, you might spare a moment of thanks for Florida’s own Dr. John Gorrie, recipient of the first U.S. patent for mechanical refrigeration.

As a physician in Apalachicola, Gorrie often encountered tropical diseases like yellow fever, which he conjectured were caused by heat, humidity, and decaying vegetation. To combat these, Gorrie proposed using artificially cooled air to mimic the cold weather that usually ended the fevers.

After a devastating epidemic struck north Florida in the summer of 1841, Gorrie began work on the refrigeration mechanism that would be patented in 1851. Sadly, Gorrie died four years later, never having found financial backers or a market for his invention.

Today, the original model of Gorrie’s machine is at the Smithsonian Institution, and a replica is on display at the John Gorrie Museum in Apalachicola. In recognition of Gorrie’s service to his community, state, and nation, Florida placed his statue in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol.

Courtesy of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources