Shipbuilding was an important enterprise in the early history of Jonesboro. From 1816 through 1887, the town built varied vessels including schooners, sloops, brigs, and barks, with accounts of the total number ranging between 37 and 39. Ships built along the Chandler River served both coastline trade and voyages on the open seas. The largest vessel built in Jonesboro was the schooner Volunteer in 1887, which was believed to have been lost off the coast of Lubec at an unknown date. Granite blocks, the largest recorded at 52 tons, were shipped from the Chandler River on two-masted schooners, along with paving stones, monumental stones, and trimming stone. Long lumber, laths, and shooks were stacked along the river's edge awaiting shipment from as many as six wharves. The two-masted schooner Kioka, built in Jonesboro in 1871 by master carpenter William Tupper, weighed 83.88 tons and was 71 feet long, and was owned by Jonesboro residents Bloomfield Look, Roxanna Look, and Josiah Whitney, Jr.