With completion of the St. Joseph & Lake Wimico Railroad in 1836, movement of cotton from the foremost cotton producing territory in the world to shipside at St. Joseph began here, and from there it went to domestic and foreign ports. As a result, the young village soon became metropolitan. For this extensive operation a large shipyard was established. The site was recorded by Lieutenant L.M. Powell in the Government Survey of St. Joseph Bay in 1841.