Fishermen’s Village stands on the site of the former Maud Street Dock, built in 1928 to replace the King Street Pier, which had housed the Punta Gorda fishing industry before being removed for the new Barron Collier Bridge, now the northbound bridge for US41. At one time as many as seven companies operated fish packing houses on the dock, but by the mid-1930s only three remained: the Punta Gorda Fish Company, the West Coast Fish Company, and the Rose Fishing Company. The pier also housed the Gulf Oil Company and Matt Week’s Boat Shop. In 1939, a fire destroyed the packing plants and killed John Willis, houseman for the Punta Gorda Fish Company, along with his wife Rosalie and their three-year-old son Edwin. The West Coast Fish Company folded, but the Punta Gorda Fish Company continued operating. In the mid-1940s, as the fishing industry declined further, a small crab packing plant was built on the pier and later expanded to include shrimp. Over time the dock and its remaining buildings fell into disrepair, and in the late 1970s the city council permitted its reuse as a shopping and dining attraction. In February 1980, Fishermen’s Village opened on the site.