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The shipyards at Madison Dock were probably located on the west side of the Creek, not far from the mouth. In 1848, land on the east side of Dock Road, including a sawmill, was leased by George Moore of Madison to James Courtwright for $300. An indenture from Courtwright to Alanson Bailey, for $300, was granted on March 21, 1859 for the same property.24 Whether this was the specific location of the yard can only be speculated. Shipbuilding died at Madison Dock after the launching of the Wake Up in 1864. The white oak necessary for vessel construction was becoming more difficult to obtain. Cunningham's Creek was becoming increasingly shallower and the mouth was filling with sand. The iron around Arcole was depleted and charcoal prices increased so that the iron industry failed. The lighthouse closed down in l857. The one lone pier that had been built out into the lake disappeared about 1900, and thus ended Madison Dock. Fairport The area immediately surrounding the mouth of the Grand River was originally three separate towns. Fairport was on the east bank at the mouth; Grand River on the west bank at the mouth; and Richmond one mile above Fairport. Fairport - very early - in 1803, could boast of a warehouse, built by Abraham Skinner. The town was laid out in 1812 by Samuel Huntington, Abraham Skinner, Simon Perkins, and Seymour and Calvin Austin.25 By 1850, Fairport had eight forwarding houses, several groceries, from twenty to forty homes, and a lighthouse. Grand River was held back by the marshy territory that it was built on, and never amounted to more than a few poor homes and other buildings. Richmond was founded in the early 1830's by Thomas Richmond, a wealthy easterner interested in land speculation. The model village that he set up seriously challenged Fairport, but a bank panic, coupled with an unsuccessful attempt to bring a cross-cut canal through the village, ended prosperity there. The first vessel recorded as being built at Fairport was the schooner New Connecticut (1827), followed by the Emory Fletcher (1831) and Atlanta (1832). None of their builders is known. In 1837 the side- wheel steamboat Rochester was built at Richmond by Augustus Jones. This was only vessel built at Richmond, and was financed by a Richmond 26