What is now a park-like shore along the lake was the heart of Pentwater's industrial district during the lumbering era, when large stacks of newly sawn lumber awaited shipment and lumber was the principal outgoing cargo during the harbor's most active years from 1865 to 1900. Loading lumber for market was a tedious and grueling operation, with a typical cargo of 7,000-8,000 pieces put aboard individually by longshoremen called lumber shovers, while additional lumber was piled high on deck, requiring schooners in the lumber trade to have a lumber reef to raise the bottom of the sail above the load. When a vessel was too large to enter the harbor, cargo was first loaded onto light barges, taken out to a ship anchored in Lake Michigan, and then reloaded piece by piece, while timbers for ships' masts were too long to load and had to be towed. Pentwater also shipped lath, shingles, cranberries, potatoes, tan bark, and in one year 26,000 pounds of maple sugar, while perishable goods such as fish and fruit were placed deep in the hold where Lake Michigan's cool water helped keep them fresh. Trade was mostly with Chicago, and including unloading, a round trip took about a week, although in August 1881 the local schooner DAN I DAVIS made a record round trip to Milwaukee and back in 36 hours. From the harbor's beginning in 1856, traffic increased until in 1891 1,140 vessels carrying freight and passengers visited Pentwater. At first, masts and sails dominated the harbor as small schooners and sailing scows of 50-150 tons carried away large quantities of white pine from local mills, and at one time 20 vessels waited in the harbor for cargoes. Among the few steam vessels, Mears' flagship, the propeller-driven C. MEARS, was especially welcome for bringing timely news of the Civil War. As lumber shipments declined, sails became fewer and steamboats grew larger, with vessels such as the KANSAS bringing summer visitors to the Sands and Maxwell pier to be greeted by the village band. By the early 1900's commercial vessels had ceased to visit, and after the channel was bridged in 1926, the harbor's commercial use reverted to fishing tugs.