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Page 8 "finger piers" be constructed that would jut out into the river much like those of New York Harbor. This would enable more ships to put into the Port of Detroit. Local vesselmen were divided over this project. It was finally resolved not to create the concept because of the difficulty in maneuvering ships because the general manager of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation feared this concept would spread it out [Port of Detroit] and cause all kinds of inconvenience. At that time the parameters of the port were Third Street to the west and Randolph Street to the east. Today the official Port of Detroit extends from the uppermost part of the river, where it leaves Lake St. Clair, down to Point Mouille, near Monroe, Michigan, a total of thirty-two miles. In 1850 a total of 2,341 vessels carrying a total of 671,545 tons with crews of 31,784 passed through the Port of Detroit. In 1907 there passed through the port, 75 million tons of waterborne commerce. Although tonnage figures have dropped significantly because of other forms of transportation and commodity demands, the average tonnage to pass through the Port of Detroit for the past ten years have hovered near the 30 million mark. During fiscal year 1973, the U.S. Customs Bureau reported that the Detroit District collected well over two hundred and fifty million dollars in import duties on goods in Detroit. This was enough to rank the district fourth out of the top fifteen collection districts in the country. The first three in rank order are New York, Los Angeles and Kennedy Airport. Certainly not significant to the history of Detroit's waterfront, but most interesting, however, is that during the late 1800's, the waterfront gained a notorious reputation. It had a number of places known as "snug harbors" where sailors, tugmen and other "men of the lakes" would "tie up for the winter". There were many saloons that catered to the thirsts of the men. This area was located in Franklin and Atwater Streets, east of Brush Street. It was really a subcellar for the underworld of Detroit. The area was known as "Potomoc" after a famous Civil War song, All Quiet Along the Potomoc. When the police Detroit Waterfront during World War II. During the next 20 years, the steamship warehouses would be tom down to create a new civic center.