Because of its waterfront location, Somers Point historically served as a transportation hub. In 1717, John Somers, Supervisor of Roads for Cape May County, began work on the Nacote Trail, now known as Shore Road, linking Somers Point with Port Republic, Tuckerton, and Mays Landing. As the first of many area roads to end here, it eased travel and helped the shipbuilding port grow. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, mass transportation in this part of New Jersey relied mainly on travel by sea and on overland wagons and stagecoaches using rutted dirt roads, and growth remained slow because overland travel was arduous. This began to change in the latter part of the 19th century with the coming of the railroad, whose lines aided the development of seashore resorts and the connection and expansion of mainland towns. Beginning in 1880, trains known as the Shore Fast Line linked Atlantic City and Ocean City by way of Pleasantville and Somers Point. Near this spot, southbound trains turned east toward the bay, and the rest of the journey to the ocean continued by ferry until a train bridge was built in 1907. This rail service made its final run on January 18, 1948.