Henry Mayhew, an explorer, prospector, entrepreneur, and county commissioner, was credited with developing the Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais. Building on the North Shore's established commercial fishing and tourism industries, he constructed the lighthouse, warehouses, docks, and a hotel in the harbor in the late 1800s. Before roads, Grand Marais, like other North Shore communities, relied on Booth Packing Company's steamships for provisions. These vessels, including the Argo, Bon Ami, and later the Dixon and America, sailed between Duluth and Port Arthur, collecting fish for market, delivering mail, and carrying passengers. While waiting for the ships to arrive, people etched their names into nearby rocks, and nearly 100 names are still visible. The harbor bustled when ships tied up at Mayhew's dock, with passengers coming ashore, men unloading livestock, carrying hay bales and lumber to the warehouses, and barrels of fish being loaded aboard as horse- or oxen-drawn wagons moved supplies back and forth. After the Dixon's route changed in 1902, the steamship America became a familiar presence in the harbor and served North Shore communities for more than a quarter century until Lake Superior claimed her in 1928.