Native Indians used the deep, dark Pocomoke River to hunt, fish, trap, travel, and trade with other peoples in the region, and its banks still hold arrowheads, broken pottery, and eroding oyster shell middens from their culture. During the early 1700's, Pocomoke, then called Warehouse Landing, became a port for locally grown tobacco bound for England, with the original tobacco warehouse and wharf standing nearby. The village grew into a small lumber town supplying white oak, loblolly pine, and bald cypress to five nearby steam sawmills, with lumber shipped to eastern ports or used by three local shipyards. Trapping along the river and adjacent swamps continued a long tradition, from early trade in black bear, red wolves, and beaver skins to later harvesting of muskrat, otter, mink, fox, and raccoon. Commercial fishing once included sturgeon, shad, herring, white perch, striped bass, and turtles, while catfishing and eel trapping remain viable and sportfishing continues in the tannic-stained tidal waters. Hunting waterfowl for food and trade was practiced by Native Indians and early settlers, later expanded to birds hunted for plumage, and today remains part of local recreation along with hunting geese, ducks, deer, rabbit, and turkey. The tidal river, connected to the Chesapeake Bay, long served as a route of transportation and communication, as well as a place of smuggling, mystery, and folklore. Legend holds that during the Revolutionary War the armed sailing barge Protector of the Maryland Navy was built at Pocomoke in November 1782, and the river was used by British loyalists and American patriots for raids, smuggling, and moving supplies. During the Civil War, Confederate sympathizers smuggled supplies down the river into Virginia, and the Union Army crossed here in November 1861 on its way to occupy the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The twisting waterway is also believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves heading north. At the turn of the 20th century, large steamships such as Maryland and Pocomoke docked here, linking the Eastern Shore with Baltimore and Annapolis while carrying travelers, mail, supplies, passengers, and freight including lumber, potatoes, tomatoes, watermelons, and livestock. The Pocomoke steamships sailed twice a week to Baltimore and made the round trip in 24 hours. Within a few blocks of the waterfront, businesses flourished during the 1880's, including clothing shops, sail makers, blacksmiths, oyster bars, hotels, horse stables, a haberdashery, and millinery, while local factories made barrels and baskets for shipping tomatoes, potatoes, and oysters, until a great fire destroyed the downtown area in 1922.