Fishing was an important part of Bucksport's economy for more than a century. In 1855, Bucksport had 20 vessels in the offshore cod fishery, bringing in more than 2 million pounds of fish that year. Captain Thomas Nicholson owned a fleet of fishing and trading schooners and lived in the building behind you, where his spacious oak-panelled private office was fitted out as the captain's quarters on one of his vessels, with dormer windows looking out over his waterfront empire; the remains of his wharf can still be seen at low tide. On September 23, 1898, Nicholson's schooner ARTHUR V.S. Wooduff, with Capt. Peterson at the helm, arrived home from the Grand Banks off Newfoundland with a record-breaking catch. The Bucksport Herald reported that the Wooduff was so heavily laden with cod that every inch of space was crowded full, and the skipper believed he had close to 5500 quintal, or 625,000 pounds, about 400 or 500 quintal more than the year before; the schooner carried 26 men and the same number of dories.