Rondout, on the Hudson River, was enlarged in 1848 by fourteen additional acres created by the man-made Island Dock, whose strategic location made receiving and distributing coal much easier. Before Island Dock was created, many laborers were needed to load and unload boats, but steam-powered coal elevators were later installed, reducing the number of jobs while greatly increasing efficiency, and labor problems arose when the elevators first came into use. In the 19th century, the Rondout Valley had poor sanitation because of the port's size and large population, and these conditions caused medical epidemics such as yellow fever and cholera and contributed substantially to repeated outbreaks of other illnesses. The D&H Canal Company owned several barges with a capacity of 500 to 600 tons that were loaded on the island from canal boats arriving from Honesdale with cargoes of coal.