Bohn’s Ice Cream Plant

Paul Bohn owned and operated Bohn’s Ice Cream Plant for over forty years. He inherited it from his father, Frank Bohn, who started the business as the Shelby Ice Cream Company in 1916 and built the store at the corner of 2nd and Washington. Some of Bohn’s homemade flavors included Tutti Fruitti (rum-flavored with apples & raisins), Honeymoon (cherry, pineapple, & coconut), and Banana, using 30 bananas for each 10-gallon batch. Cones were two scoops for a nickel “in the olden days”, and by the 1970’s the price was a dime for your favorite flavor. The store was decorated with old bottles, postcards and arrowheads, and were often the topic of conversation. Paul Bohn also took pictures of his customers and kept scrapbooks. He liked to say that he watched generations of Shelbyville’s kids grow up.