In the 1800s, Union City stood at the head of 170 miles of busy commerce on the St. Joe. Large freight barges poled by 8 men, as well as steamers, carried grain, pork, whiskey, flour, hides, furs, pig iron, and other goods manufactured along its banks downstream to Lake Michigan and on to Chicago. Return trips brought immigrants, goods for stores, and “Niles crackers.” In the 1830s, Union City’s founding fathers focused on making the town a metropolis along a canal proposed to the east through Homer and Jackson, connecting the St. Joe all the way to Lake Erie and onto the East Coast. Locally, $50,000 was appropriated and $10,000 was actually spent clearing obstructions to improve navigation. River commerce, however, gave way to rail, nothing came of the cross-state canal, and Union City nearly lost out after missing early chances on rail lines built to the north and south before one finally traversed the town.